Edward Heffron was born on May 16, 1923, in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Joseph and Anne Heffron, who were both of Irish descent, and had three brothers named Joseph Jr., James, and John, and one sister. He dropped out of High School during the Great Depression, and went to work as a ship sandblaster for New York Shipbuilding, before choosing to enlist in the U.S. Airborne with his friend Anthony Cianfrani in 1942.