Elsworth Marco Heck was born on October 20, 1907, in Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia. He was the son of Frank Elsworth Heck and Myrtle Mary Carter Heck. He served in the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, as a Private First Class during World War II.

On June 6, 1944, PFC Heck, one of the paratroopers from the 507 PIR jumped from C47 #42-92382 far from their intended drop zone following a brief firefight by a German convoy, and was taken prisoner by the Germans. PFC Heck with six other captured paratroopers were interrogated and then taken back to a wooded area where they were executed by the Germans. They were shot in the back of the head and buried in a hastily dug pit. Local villagers exhumed their bodies and reburied them in the communal cemetery of Hémevez. PFC Heck is now buried in the Ridgelawn Memorial Park, Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia, USA. He was posthumously awarded the Prisoner Of War Medal, and the Purple Heart in recognition of his bravery and sacrifice.