Ed was born on July 28, 1925, in upstate New York, and enlisted in the Navy at 17 in 1943. He attended seven weeks of recruit training in Sampson, New York before heading to England.

On June 6, 1944, he was a gunner aboard LCF-3, a Landing Craft Flak, positioned close to shore off the Normandy beaches. The LCFs were converted British vessels turned over to U.S. crews for D-Day, mounting anti-aircraft guns to protect the waves of men and vessels storming toward shore. Ed was stationed at his gun with a childhood friend, both of them in the thick of the assault. In the weeks that followed, the mission of LCF-3 shifted to rescue and transport operations along the Normandy coast. Ed went on to serve aboard the USS American Legion, USS PCE-90, and USS Achomawi ATF-148.

He completed three years of service and was honorably discharged in March 1946.