World War II Legion of Merit Medal

Captain Edmund J. Dunkin Jr.
United States Army Captain Edmund Joseph Durkin Jr. (Service #35305637) was born September 5th 1911, in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Edmund attended gammer and Senior High athis local Cleveland Catholic Parochial schools, graduating in  1919.

​Edmund returned home from England in 1935 and was admitted to the Ohio Bar. He went to work immediately as a lawyer with the Firm Squire, Sanders, & Dempsey where he later became a partner and would be associated with for nearly 40 years. 
 He continued his higher learning at St. Edmund College, England where he graduated in 1930. He then attended Law-school at Oxford University, England, where he served as President of the Newman Society. Edmund graduated and received his Law Degree in 1933. ​​
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​Edmund enlisted as a Private in the Army on May 12th 1942, he attended basic training at Camp Perry, Ohio in the summer of 1942.
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Durkin was promoted to Technical Sergeant and served as a counter espionage Special Agent in the 425th Counter intelligence, Interpreter Team, Corps of the Military Intelligence Service for 2 years in North Africa & Italy.
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​Technical Sergeant Durkin was commissioned from the ranks and quickly promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, he was back on U.S. soil by 1944, being assigned to the “Manhattan Project” Engineering Department. Durkin served on the staff of Major General Leslie Groves, Developing the Atom Bomb.
Durkin was awarded the Legion of Merit for his work on the Atom Bomb. He was also awarded the Order of the British Empire from Great Britain by Lord Inverchapel, the British Ambassador to the United States. ​He was promoted to Captain and he was Honorable Discharged from the service in 1945. ​​
it was revealed by the War Department that Captain Durkin “performed work of particular value, in the development of the Atomic bomb.” ​


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Edmund Durkin continued to practice law as an attorney and served on the Board of overseers of Case Western Reserve University and a trustee of Ursuline College. ​

Durkin held positions in many societies including the Knights of Columbus, Court of Nisi Prius, Cleveland Astronomical Society, Royal Astronomical Society of England, Irish American Historical Society of New York. He was a Trustee of the Catholic Charities Corp. for 25 years, as well as the President of the Holy Named Society. He was also awarded the papal Knight of order of St. Gregory the Great. ​

United States Army Captain Edmund Joseph Durkin Jr. passed away in his home in Cleveland, Ohio on February 14th 1976. He is buried in his hometown at the Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio. 
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