. . Joe Pletcher of Howard, PA served in the US Army during WW II. Mr. Pletcher traveled across Europe with the Army’s 572nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Auto-Weapons Battalion, which joined the famed “Hellcats” 12th Armored Division in Luneville, France. Permanently attached to the 12th Division, the 572nd traveled as the spearhead
. . 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,
. . Walter Patton servied with the Army Air Corps during WW II.
. . Julia Parsons volunteered for the Navy WAVES—“Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service”—in 1942 after graduating from Carnegie Tech. She studied cryptology at Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School at Smith College, and then she was ordered to Washington, D.C. for top secret duty. She joined section SHARK, whose job it was
. . 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
. . Henry Parham served with the 320th Anti-Aircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, the only all-black unit to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Henry served in a segregated army, where African Americans were treated as second-class citizens. But to this native of Greenville, Virginia, segregation in the military
