. . Roland “Jack” Rominger has lived in Pittsburgh for many years. But he grew up during the Great Depression in rural Lawrenceville, Indiana; it was a different experience than in urban, industrial Pittsburgh—then and during the war years. His family was in the retail shoe business, and Jack spent his
. . When Andy Nigut first saw his face after the wounding, he was horrified. A Vietnamese rocket propelled grenade had removed nearly 80% of his jaw and most of his teeth. He breathed through his neck, and his tongue was stitched down. He couldn’t scream, even if he wanted to.
. . Jack Naughton served with the US Marine Corps from July 3, 1944 until 1946. He fought as an infantryman at Marshall Island, Guam, and Iwo Jima as well as China and other locations throughout the Pacific.
. . Donald J. Myers was a recent graduate of John Carroll University in Cleveland when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He decided to enlist in the Marines — “I wanted to join the best,” he says — and entered officer training at Quantico. As his outbound ship passed under the
. . When Jack Morrow left Kittanning, Pennsylvania to fight in WWII, he was a seventeen year-old volunteer. “I wanted to go into the military,” he says, “and my parents gave me their permission.” This was 1943. After basic training, Jack was sent to radar school and then to the Pacific.