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Corporal Edward Joseph Dymek

A color headshot photo of a young White man in uniform.
  • Unit: 6th Division, Ships Company Marines
  • Date of Birth: October 24, 1927
  • Entered the Military: January 18, 1944
  • Date of Death: July 25, 2017
  • Hometown: Detroit, Michigan
  • Place of Death: Coatesville, Pennsylvania
  • Cemetery: Section A-7, Row A, Site 6. Washington Crossing National Cemetery, Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania
Contributed by John Lopit and Jack Moore
Mentored by Mr. Brian Weaver
Central Bucks High School West, Doylestown, Pennsylvania
2025/2026

Early Life

Edward Dymek was born on October 24, 1927, in Detroit, Michigan. His parents, Virginia Kosciuszko Dymek and Joseph Edward Dymek, were Polish immigrants. His father worked as a machinist at an aluminum factory.

Dymek and his older brother Leonard attended Cass Tech High School in Detroit. He was a member of the ROTC and enlisted in the Marine Corps on November 29, 1945, at the age of 18. 

A snippet of the 1940 Census.
The 1940 Census shows the Dymek family in Detroit, Michigan. National Archives and Records Administration.
A black and white image of a seven-story, brick school building.
Cass Technical High School, 1922. Ancestry.

Homefront

The Detroit community was massively involved in manufacturing during the war. Automobile factories were quickly converted to produce various war machines. For instance, General Motors, a Detroit-based automobile manufacturer, produced 38,000 tanks, 3.8 million electric motors, 854,000 trucks, and 119,562,000 artillery shells during the war. The Packard Motor Car Company built 55,000 airplane engines. The Willow Run Bomber Plant just outside the city turned out over 8,600 B-24 Liberator bombers during the war, producing an average of one heavy bomber every hour by 1944.

The rapid shift in Detroit’s industry to wartime production created a need for more workers. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people moved to the city. Because so many of Detroit’s working men were fighting in the war, many factory jobs sat vacant until women stepped in to fill them. Women were the backbone of Detroit’s wartime factory system and felt a strong sense of connection and contribution to the war effort. Wartime propaganda, including the iconic figure of Rosie the Riveter, who came to symbolize the spirit of the working woman, encouraged women to take up jobs in war production. The Detroit community was an active participant in the Victory Gardens effort. The people of Detroit grew their own gardens on their properties and in public areas to conserve food and remain self-sufficient during wartime.

A black and white image of an older White woman shaking hands with a younger White woman in a crowded room with a policeman standing guard.
Mrs. Martha Phelan, a Packard employee, developed a way to speed up engine production. She became the first woman war worker in Detroit to win the War Production Board Award of Individual Production Merit. First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, flew to Detroit to personally congratulate her, January 1943. Packard Proving Grounds Historic Site.
A black and white image of two older White men shaking hands. One is sitting behind a desk and the other is standing and leaning over.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt meets William S. Knudsen, president of General Motors, before the first meeting of the new National Defense Advisory Commission in Washington on May 30, 1940. History.
A black and white photo of a car on the assembly line. In front of the car are two older White men shaking hands in front of a sign that reads. “Here’s the last Packard ‘Til we win the war - It’s ‘all out’ on Engines to even the score!”
The last Packard off the Packard Motor Car Company assembly line until the end of the war, 1942. Detroit Historical Society.

Military Experience

Training

Edward Dymek joined the U.S. Marine Corps after World War II officially ended. During boot camp, he was made a squad leader because of his ROTC background. After graduation, he was assigned to a sea school in California.

USS Leyte

In April 1946, Dymek received his first sea assignment. He and his detachment of 80 Marines were present for the commissioning of USS Leyte, an aircraft carrier named for the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Three days following its commission, Dymek and his company were tasked with prepping and loading all the ammunition on board. This required his detachment to work two eight-hour shifts per day for almost two weeks straight.

Dymek’s first mission aboard the Leyte was to bring troops up from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Norfolk, Virginia. From there, they set sail for Latin America. These trips were described as security work. In Chile, crew members from the Leyte attended the presidential inauguration and then stopped in Peru, where they picked up Peru’s president for a three-day cruise. The ship also stopped in Trinidad and the Canal Zone.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman (in what would become known as the Truman Doctrine) declared that the United States would assist countries that resisted Communist takeovers. Dymek and the Leyte made multiple security trips to the Mediterranean in support of Greece and Turkey at the time, and he was part of the first group of U.S. troops to enter neutral Turkey. 

During the first deployment to the Mediterranean, Russia threatened to attack if the ship entered the Dardanelles Strait, which separates the European and Asian parts of Turkey. The ship’s admiral ordered all aircraft armed and fueled on the flight deck. The captain explained that the waterway was too narrow to allow the ship to turn into the wind for aircraft launches. The admiral reportedly replied that they would all die gloriously. Luckily, the Russians did not follow through on their threat.

Over the next few years, Dymek and the Leyte took three trips to Naples, Italy. On the first trip, they unloaded supplies under the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan, a U.S. initiative to provide aid to struggling European economies, took shape amid American fears that these nations would be vulnerable to Communist infiltration. 

Oftentimes, Dymek said the Marines viewed their mission as protecting the ship, but they were ready to respond wherever needed. Sometimes they went ashore to help the local government; at one point, even guarding a bank’s armored cars as they transported money. On another trip to Naples, the Leyte and its convoy faced severe weather. One destroyer, USS Douglas H. Fox, on its way to Trieste, hit a mine and had to be towed ashore to Venice by two Italian tugs.

U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes

After his time on Leyte, Dymek was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Center. At the time, it was a functioning prison for personnel awaiting courts-martial. There, he served on prison duty, then gate duty, and ultimately became a patrol guard. 

In June 1949, Dymek was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps.

A handwritten card with information on Dymek.
Edward Dymek’s draft registration card, October 25, 1945. Portions have been redacted for privacy reasons. National Archives and Records Administration.
A black and white photo of several dozen young White men in uniform under the heading “The Sixth Division-Ships Company Marines.”
Dymek and members of the 6th Division Marine Company of USS Leyte, 1946. U.S. Navy Memorial.
A black and white image of a ship in the sea.
USS Leyte, January 1949. Naval History and Heritage Command.

Veteran Experience

After the war, Dymek returned to his home in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  He did not leave the city until 1974, when he moved to Downingtown, Pennsylvania.  

Dymek was a Life Member of the Disabled American Veterans. Edward served as East Caln Township Supervisor for 36 years and, during that time, was president of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors. In several decades as a supervisor, he made an impact in many arenas. He helped with township planning, fought to keep a gas pipeline out of town, helped secure funds and plans for a park, helped purchase new fire equipment, and fought against illegal dumping.

He was involved with the Downingtown Fire Companies for over 32 years and, in 2011, was made an honorary chief.

A black and white image of an older White man in a suit and tie standing in between an older White woman and a younger White woman.
Edward Dymek, president-elect of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors. The Indiana Gazette, May 3, 1989.
A newspaper article titled “PSATS Urges Taxpayers to Support Impact Taxes.”
Edward Dymek was a frequent contributing voice on local government affairs across the Commonwealth as president of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, December 12, 1989. Tyrone Daily Herald.

Commemoration

Edward Joseph Dymek died on July 25, 2017, in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. He is buried at Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania.

A white marble headstone.
Edward Dymek’s marker at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, February 15, 2026. Courtesy of Brian Weaver.
Two young White boys stand in front of a cemetery entrance.
Students at Washington Crossing National Cemetery pay tribute to Edward Dymek, February 15, 2026. Courtesy of Brian Weaver.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Anderson, Amy. “East Caln Dedicates New Park.” Daily Local News [West Chester, Pennsylvania], June 24, 2001. https://www.dailylocal.com/2001/06/24/east-caln-dedicates-new-park/.

Dymek, Edward. “PSATS Urges Taxpayers To Support Impact Taxes.” Tyrone Daily Herald [Tyrone, Pennsylvania], December 12, 1989. Newspapers.com (14047674).

Edward Dymek. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016. Digital Images. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Edward J. Dymek. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2020. Digital Images. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Edward Joseph Dymek. Michigan, U.S. Marriage Records, 1867-1952. Digital Images. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Edward Joseph Dymek. World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947. Digital Images. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Here’s the Last Packard. Photograph. 1942. Packard Motor Car Co. Collection, Detroit Historical Society. https://www.detroithistorical.org/learn/online-research/collection/photo/print-photographic-14533.

“Interview of Edward J. Dymek.” United States Navy Memorial. Accessed October 19, 2025. https://www.navymemorial.org/sotmjuly-2023.

Michigan. Wayne County. 1930 U. S. Census. Digital Images. http://ancestryclassroom.com.

Michigan. Wayne County. 1940 U.S. Census. Digital Images. http://ancestryclassroom.com.

Michigan. Wayne County. 1950 U. S. Census. Digital Images. http://ancestryclassroom.com.

Pickering, Ann. “Proposed Continuing Care Retirement Community.” Reading Eagle [Reading, Pennsylvania], July 17, 2007. https://www.readingeagle.com/2007/07/17/proposed-continuing-care-retirement-community/.

Putnam, David. “Jefferson Officials Review Route 119, PennDOT Project.” Indiana Gazette [Indiana, Pennsylvania], September 18, 1989. Newspapers.com (522123216).

“Residents, Officials Debate Gas Pipeline” Pottstown Mercury [Pottstown, PA], June 18, 2008. https://www.pottsmerc.com/2008/06/18/residents-officials-debate-gas-pipeline/.

“Township Officers Elect.” The Indiana Gazette [Indiana, PA], May 3, 1989. Newspapers.com (14680367).

“USS Leyte (CV-32).” Naval History and Heritage Command. Accessed January 16, 2026. www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-navy-ships/alphabetical-listing/l/uss-leyte–cv-32-0.html.

“Victory Gardens.” Detroit Evening Times [Detroit, Michigan], March 29, 1943. Newspapers.com (874721160).

 Secondary Sources

“Arsenal of Democracy.” Detroit Historical Society. Accessed November 9, 2025. https://www.detroithistorical.org/learn/online-research/encyclopedia-of-detroit/arsenal-democracy.

Baime, A.J. “How Detroit Factories Retooled during WWII to Defeat Hitler.” History, A&E Television Networks. Updated March 19, 2020. Accessed November 9, 2025. https://www.history.com/articles/wwii-detroit-auto-factories-retooled-homefront.

Brecher, Jeremy. “The World War II and Post-War Strike Wave.” Accessed November 11, 2025. https://files.libcom.org/files/The%20World%20War%20II%20and%20post-war%20strike%20wave.pdf.

Davis, Hilary. “The Packard Rosies of World War II.” Packard Proving Grounds. Accessed November 9, 2025. packardprovinggrounds.org/the-packard-rosies-of-world-war-ii/.

“Edward Joseph Dymek.” Find a Grave. Updated July 26, 2017. Accessed December 11, 2025. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/181796415/edward_joseph-dymek. 

“Edward Joseph Dymek.” Veterans Legacy Memorial, National Cemetery Administration. Accessed April 28, 2026. https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/EDWARDDYMEK/D06E561.

“Edward J.oseph Dymek.” James Terry Funeral Home. Accessed September 30, 2025. https://www.jamesterryfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Edward-Joseph-Dymek?obId=32730515.

Escher, Kat. “How Detroit Went from Motor City to the Arsenal of Democracy.” Smithsonian Magazine, March 28, 2017. Accessed November 9, 2025. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-detroit-was-arsenal-democracy-180962620/.

“Packard Motor Car Company.” Detroit Historical Society. Accessed April 10, 2026. https://www.detroithistorical.org/learn/online-research/encyclopedia-of-detroit/packard-motor-car-company. 

“Race Riot of 1943.” Detroit Historical Society. Accessed November 11, 2025. https://www.detroithistorical.org/learn/online-research/encyclopedia-of-detroit/race-riot-1943.

“Rosie the Riveter.” Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. Accessed November 11, 2025. https://miwf.org/celebrating-women/michigan-womens-hall-of-fame/rosie-the-riveter/.

“Strikes in 1942.” Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed November 10, 2025. https://www.bls.gov/wsp/publications/annual-summaries/pdf/strikes-1942.pdf.

“USS Leyte.” Seaforces. Accessed February 10, 2026. https://www.seaforces.org/usnships/cv/CV-32-USS-Leyte.htm. 

War & Peace – Iconic Images of Detroit’s Past in the 1940s and 1950s. Pediment Publishing, 2022. https://issuu.com/pediment/docs/pages_from_detroit_news_ii-pages-08_874a7df6efe641. 


This profile was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.