. . ohn Opeka enlisted in the Army Air Corps in February 1942, two weeks before turning 24 years old. If he’d have waited two weeks, he would have been rejected for exceeding the age limit. “I did not want to be a foot soldier,” he says. “I made up my
. . Bob Olsen was a marine engineer in the US Merchant Marine Service during World War II. Following the war, he served in the US Naval Reserve from 1945 until 1959
. . Frank Niklas reluctantly joined the Army in 1942 and became a member of the 2nd Infantry “Indianhead” Division. He landed on Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944, D+1. In September, while his division was in a defensive position at St. Vith, Frank was thrown into air and knocked unconscious
. . Ernest Nigrelli served in the Army Air Corps during WW II. When his aircraft was badly destroyed on a mission, his captain ordered him to bail out. It was the first time he had ever jumped from an airplane, and he was the only survivor. The VBC does
. . 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
