From Belfast to Dachau
However, a letter which arrived from across the Atlantic ordering him to report for duty with the US army, changed his life for ever. Teddy was born in New York but when he was still a child his parents returned to Northern Ireland.
Within weeks of his call-up, Teddy was transformed from a young lad on Belfast's Cregagh Road to GI Edward Dixon, F Company, 42nd Rainbow Division - or just plain "Irish", as he was known to his American comrades in arms.
It was the start of a remarkable journey which took Teddy into combat in France and Germany and finally to the gates of the Dachau concentration camp, on the outskirts of Munich.
Teddy was among the first of the allied soldiers to discover the full horror of the Nazi death camp when it was liberated in April 1945.
"The first thing we encountered was the smell. A horrible, terrible smell," he said.