Edwin T. Gibson, 90 years of age, a longtime Harborite and realtor, died on Tuesday, January 22, 2013, at Grays Harbor Community Hospital. He was born on May 18, 1922, in Utica, New York, to Anthony and Estelle (Mendelka) Gibson. When he was three months old he was baptized in a Catholic Church and for many years he served as an Altar Boy. He came from a Polish family where that was the only language they spoke. He learned English only after he started school.
He was raised in New York and attended schools in Utica and Niagara Falls. At the age of 17 he joined the National Guard. On February 21 he enlisted into the Army and entered into active duty on September 16, 1940. He was an Army Squad Leader and when he was the only survivor of his unit during one of the battles he was in, he met up with another Company and became a tank gunner. He served in the Rhineland, Ardenness, Central Europe and Northern France. He was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge, the Distinguished Unit Badge, the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. He received the Purple Heart for being wounded in action in France on November 29, 1944. He was honorably discharged on September 24, 1945, as a Corporal with the 20th Armored Infantry Battalion at Camp Beale, California. Because Ed was unable to complete his senior year of high school, Niagara Falls High School recently issued him an honorary diploma.