. . When war broke out, Bill Monk was 16 and living a quiet life in Kalamazoo, Michigan. When news reached him of the bombs hitting Pearl Harbor, he did not yet understand how that day would impact his life, changing it forever. As a high school senior, an army recruiter desperately
. . Victor Miesel spent the war years in the South Pacific serving with the Army Air Corps. His support role kept planes flying and helped move forward the massive Allied build up towards Japan. Although he served in the rear of the front lines, his squadron repeatedly came under attack
. . Ken Middlemiss was drafted into the US Army in Spetember 1945 after graduting high school. He was in the Special Services under the 8th Army Division and spent 18 months in Japan before leaving in October 1947.
. . Eugene M. McShane is a native of Stonington, Connecticut. During WWII he enlisted in the Army in 1943 and trained as a forward artillery observer. During the allied invasion of Normandy, he landed on Omaha Beach (Dog Red zone) as part of the second wave, June 7, 1944 (D+1).
. . During WWII, George Jock and Robert McKnight of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania served aboard the Baltimore-class heavy cruiser, USS Pittsburgh (CA-72). The ship saw intense action in the South Pacific and participated in the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Pittsburgh is most known for towing the USS Franklin (CV-13)
. . In 1942 Jack McGavern was a 34-year-old father of two girls, ages 10 and 5, when he told his wife he wanted to join the Marines. He had a good job and a good life living in the Mt. Washington neighborhood of Pittsburgh. But he felt called to serve
