. . Ken Thomas is from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and he’s a very good friend of Barry Campbell, both drafted during Vietnam. In fact, both of their wives were pregnant with their first children at the time. There is a bond there that goes deep. Ken tries not to dwell on
. . Harold Stein served in Army during WWII.
. . Alex Sopka grew up on the rough streets of Pittsburgh’s Northside, the son of Russian immigrants. His father’s path towards American citizenship was to fight in WW I, where gas destroyed his lungs. Like many young men, the news of Pearl Harbor inspired Al to action but the government
. . Bill Sommer entered the US Army in June 1941 and was a member of the 28th Infantry Division. He fought in the European theatre and finished his military service in October 1945.
. . After his University of Pittsburgh ROTC unit was activated in 1943, Lester Snyder of Dormont, PA, found himself at Ft. Bragg, NC, undergoing artillery training. But instead of being shipped overseas, Lester enrolled in the controversial Army Specialized Training Program, where he attended college classes six days a week.
. . Anthony J. Sercel, 95, served with the Army’s 82 Airborne Division (504th Regiment, 3rd Battalion, I Company) in Europe during WW II. Unlike other units of the Division that prepared for the Normandy invasion, Mr. Sercel’s 504th Regiment was held back to fight in the Italian campaign–Anzio, Naples, Foggia,
