2nd Lt. Edward Clifford Groves was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 12, 1919, to Clifford Groves and Susan F. Decowski-Groves, and had three sisters. The family moved to Proviso Township in 1929, and first lived in Bellwood and then at 205 South 20th Avenue in Maywood. He graduated from McKinley School and Proviso Township High School in 1937. After high school, Edward went to work for International Harvester in Chicago as an inspector.
When the Selective Service Act became law on October 16, 1940, he registered for the draft and named his mother as his contact person. He knew he would be drafted, so he enlisted in the United States Marine Air Corps on May 12, 1942, in Chicago. What is known is that his initial training was in the Chicago area until March 31, 1943, and he attended ground school at Northwestern University, pre-flight school at Sky Harbor Airport, Northbrook, Illinois. Sometime in April 1943, he attended pre-flight school in Iowa City, Iowa, and then went to US Naval Training Station, Bainbridge, Maryland for what appears to have been anti-submarine training. From there, he was sent to Jacksonville, Florida, where he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant, on February 15, 1944, and awarded his gold wings. He also received the serial number O34899. The O meant he was an officer.
After he was commissioned, Edward was sent to Santa Barbara, California, and assigned to the escort carrier the U.S.S. Vella Gulf and assigned to VMF 513?MASG 48 FMF. The carrier was training carrier. What is known is that on May 12, 1945, his plane crashed into the sea and he was reported killed. On June 9, 1945, the US Marines declared his remains as non-recoverable. After the war, his name was placed on the Tablets of the Missing, a the West Coast Memorial, Presidio, San Francisco, California
