Cody Reeves was born in Grand Rapids and was raised in Smyrna, Michigan, by his mother while living with his grandparents. When he and his mother moved to Orleans and she married his stepfather, a Marine veteran, Reeves was greatly influenced to join…

Bruce Nelson was born in Wabasha, Minnesota, in 1949, and graduated high school in 1967. After he graduated, Nelson briefly attended a trade school to become an auto mechanic, but could no longer afford it, so he went to work in a metal foundry.…

David Mitchell was born in Auburn, Indiana, in 1949 where he graduated high school in 1967 before attending Purdue University. Unfortunately, Mitchell did not acclimate well to college life and soon left the university and was drafted into the Army…

Stacie McCarthy was born on March 10, 1985, in Framingham, Massachusetts, where she lived a normal suburban childhood. When her parents divorced, her father married her stepmother, who was in the Navy, and moved his family to Michigan. McCarthy was…

Mathias Mapes-Pearson was born on July 16, 1995 in Burlington, Vermont, but grew up in Rockford, Michigan. He immediately enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school. After basic, he went to Infantry School and then Basic Security Guard School.…

Gabriel Mancil was born on July 16, 1990 in Valdosta, Georgia. He was homeschooled and acquired a GED in March of 2008. After an Army recruiter requested he acquire some college education to qualify for the service, Mancil attended two semesters at a…

Walter Lyssy was born in McCook, Texas in the early 1940’s and attended Texas A&I University in Kingsville, Texas where he was a part of the Army ROTC’s Signal Corps for four years. Upon graduating from college in May of 1965, he was commissioned.…

John Lutz was born on May 24, 1919 in Brooklyn, New York, and attended high school in Queens. He graduated high school in 1936 and went on to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to become an engineer. In 1940, he earned his bachelor’s…

David Low was born in Hebron, Illinois, on October 29th, 1927, and his family moved to Muskegon, Michigan before settling in Wayland, Michigan as he started high school. When Low was 14, he helped make powdered eggs for the military at a local…

James Leet was born in Manistee, Michigan in 1930 and graduated from Manistee High in 1947 after which he spent a year doing carpentry work. In 1948 Leet enlisted in the Army and was sent to Fort Knox for eight weeks of basic training, after which he…

Duane Lancaster was born August 16, 1942 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Lancaster grew up in the Grand Rapids area and lived there until for most of his adolescent life. He graduated from Wyoming Park High School in 1961, and from there he attended Grand…

Ronald Konyndyk was born in 1944 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he lived a comfortable childhood and attended local schools. Konyndyk’s father had been drafted into the Army during the Second World War and later worked as an executive at a…