. . John Rapp of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania loved the navy.  He enlisted during WWII, serving aboard landing craft in the Pacific.  After more than thirty years, John retired from the navy as a chief boatswain’s mate.  “It was my job to keep the ship clean and orderly,” he says.  “I showed the

. . Bernie Queneau was born in 1912; his earliest memories include the bombing of London during the infamous Zepplin Raids.  As a boy, he learned several languages and lived through Europe until moving to the US in his teens.  Prior to entering Columbia College, Bernie became an Eagle Scout; he

. . Ralph Pennetti entered the US Navy in November 1944 and serced as a member of the seabees in the Pacific.  He maintained sea planes stationed in Okinawa and was assigned to the invasion force meant for Japan.  While walking with a friend across an airbase in the Pacific, Ralph,

. . When would-be aviator Mort Parker went off to join the Army Air Corps in 1940, he was so excited to have passed the vision test that his blood pressure surged, and he failed his physical.  Months later, he squeaked into the Navy Air Corps with nifty paperwork that showed

. . Bob Moore always had a lot to say about the war. “The country lost money on me,” says Bob, who trained endlessly as part of the navy’s amphibious fleet for the invasion of Japan that never happened.  He practiced beach assaults as a crew member on small, specialized landing