. . Bob Brodine missing image A native of Galesburg, Illinois, Bob Brodine joined the Navy at age 17 on July 1, 1943. He liked math and science and wanted to be a meteorologist. Either that or a submarine man. The Navy sent him to radio school and made him
. . Chris Brent Chris Brent’s journey in life began in Berlin where he was born. While his parents were having difficulties and ultimately divorced, Chris was placed in foster care several times and then reunited with his mother and later with his father. His father eventually immigrated to the
. . John Bozek On Sunday, December 7, 1941, John Bozek, then a high school senior in Detroit, heard the famous radio announcement of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. The next day he and some buddies headed straight for the federal building in downtown Detroit, intent on enlisting in the
. . Eugene Bowser Gene Bowser served in the Navy in the Pacific on the U.S.S. Bremerton (CA-130). He supplied the 1,800 men on board with their food, allotted just sixty-two cents a day to feed each man. Carrying on a peculiar, but time-honored navy tradition, Gene’s commander gave him
. . John Bowen During WW II, Sergeant John Bowen served with the Army’s 5th Armored “Victory” Division. Deep into the German winter of 1944, four days from Christmas, John’s unit lost radio contact with its field commanders. Combat was fierce and heavy. Without control, the men were fighting chaos.
. . Ray Book Standing 5”10” tall and weighing just 119 pounds at age 18, Ray Book was considered too thin by the Marines, so he enlisted in the Army in March 1943 and chose artillery training. Ironically, it wouldn’t be long before he was shouldering a 50-caliber machine gun
