Branislow Thomas Dzigas was born October 19, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Egnaus and Annella/Nellie Dzigas. Other children in the family were Leo, Alfred Peter, Albert and John. In 1940 they were living at 388 Bristol Street in Brooklyn, where the father worked as a tailor in a men's clothing factory.
During World War II, any family with five boys could expect that at least some of them would serve in the U.S. armed forces...and some might never come home. As the oldest, Alfred and Leo were the first to go- both joining the Navy early in 1942. Alfred served on the vessels PC-579 and PC-779; Leo served on both the USS Pollux and the USS Euryale. (Alfred went on to also serve in Korea, and when he died in 1988 he was buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the "Punchbowl" in Hawaii.)
Branislow enlisted in the Army as a private in February of 1943. He stated that his education consisted of three years of college, and his civil occupation was a "skilled mechanic and repairman." He was "single with dependents," and was 5'3" tall and 118 pounds.
John, the youngest brother, was the last to enlist, joining the Army in June of 1944. Brother Albert was the only one who remained at home. When the war ended in 1945, the Dzigas family was fortunate...all of their boys came home alive.
The brothers scattered after WWII ended. Albert would die in 1977, and had been living in Smithtown, New York. Alfred, as already mentioned, died in 1988 and was buried in Hawaii, where he was living for many years with his wife Mary in Honolulu. Leo lived in Yucaipa, California; and died in Alameda, California in 1991. John, who had been living at Howard Beach, New York with his wife Edna, died in 2010.
Branislow Thomas Dzigas died September 12, 1993, at the Cabrini Nursing Home, and was buried on Hart Island.
Sources: U.S. Social Security Death Index; U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007; 1940 U.S. Federal Census; U.S. WWII Army Enlistment Recordsk 1938-1946; U.S. Draft Registration Cards, 1942; U.S. WWII Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949; Honolulu, Hawaii, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl), 1941-2011; California, Death Index, 1940-1997; U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Vol. 1 and 2; U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989.