William Crow was born on October 4th, 1927 in Butte, Montana. He primarily grew up in Wichita, Kansas. In 1943, he altered his birthdate on his birth certificate so that he could join the Marine Corps at 16 years old. William completed his basic…

Philip Cornelius was born on June 1, 1925, in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. In June 1943, after graduating high school, he enlisted in the Navy. Due to having glasses, he was placed in the Construction Battalions, better known as the Seabees. He…

Mike Chiarelli was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1949, to parents who immigrated from Sicily. In 1969, he got a draft notice while attending barber college, but he was allowed to finish school before being inducted into the Army in Fort Dix, New…

Paul Chardoul was born in Waterloo, Iowa on August 17th, 1939. He graduated high school in 1957. He earned his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Michigan and his master's degree from Michigan State University in 1964. While writing…

Dale Brown was born in Lansing, Michigan on February 26, 1948. After graduating high school in 1966 he worked for General Motors before deciding to enlist since he thought he might be drafted to Vietnam anyway. Brown enlisted in the Air Force in May…

Carleton Brown was born on October 28, 1944 in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated high school in 1963. He then began classes the University of Florida for a degree in journalism and communications before enlisting in the Navy in 1966, narrowly…

Lyle Brockway was born near Vicksburg, Michigan in 1924 and graduated from high school in May of 1942. After graduating high school, Brockway attended Michigan State to study agriculture and was enlisted in ROTC. During his first fall semester, he…

Kenneth Block was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1932 where he graduated high school before attending Wayne State University. Studying geology and accounting, Block graduated with a degree in accounting before a friend referred him to Selfridge Air…

Emile Bertrand was born in Morlaix, France on October 26th, 1922. After graduating high school in 1939, he began working in the arsenal of Rennes as a toolmaker. While at work, he witnessed the German bombing of Rennes in June 1940. To escape the…

Christopher Bergeron was born in 1972 in Anniston, Alabama to two members of the service. In July of 1990, three weeks after graduating high school, Bergeron began his Marines career by attending boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina.…

Jerry Benson was born on August 28, 1926 in Lafayette Township, Michigan. He graduated high school in 1944 and was unable to get any type of deferment from the service. Benson was then drafted and began his twelve weeks of Army Basic Training in…

Jeff Baldwin was born in Royal Oak, Michigan and grew up in Hartford, Michigan. He enlisted in the Army in 2004, two years after he graduated high school. He went to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for basic training and advanced individual training to…

Christopher Antal was born in New York in c. 1971. He decided to become a Unitarian Universalist chaplain in the military in 2005. Because he was not registered for the Selective Service and had passed the age of 25, he requested a moral waiver to…

Howard Andrews was born on November 1st, 1926 in Meadville, Pennsylvania. After graduating high school in January 1944, he began taking classes at Allegheny College. In October 1944, Andrews enlisted in the Navy and reported to Sampson, New York for…

Rita (Vogler) Adams was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, on February 7th, 1922. She grew up during the Great Depression. She lived in Wheeling until the age of 21. Rita attended high school at a girls’ private school, which she graduated from in…

Ms. Le was born in Saigon in 1970 to an American father and Vietnamese mother. Her father had to leave, and her mother struggled to make a living, especially when the communists took over. A program called ODC allowed them to leave Vietnam, go to the…

Mae Johnson was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1919. She graduated from Leavenworth High School in 1937 and eventually went to nursing school. Because she could not finish nursing school, Mae traveled to California with a friend. After visiting…

Carolyn Greene was born in Jackson, Mississippi on June 23, 1948. Her father was in the US Air Force and she grew up where he was stationed at Kessler Air Force Base in Mississippi. When Carolyn was a teenager she was active in the Civil Rights…

Paul Bailey was born in 1936 and opted to join the Military Police after graduating high school in 1954. Bailey attended Basic Training at Camp Chaffee, Arkansas, and then Fort Gordon, Georgia, for advanced training to become an MP. His first regular…

Bruni Johnson was born on April 17th, 1937 in Berlin, Germany. As a young child, Bruni was sent to work on her aunt and uncle's farm out in the country during the early years of the Second World War. In 1945, she returned to Berlin and experienced…

Rauland Whiteis was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1946 and graduated high school in 1966. Whiteis was drafted into the Army in 1969 and attended Basic Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, as well as Advanced Individual Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He…

Chet Trybus was born on March 16, 1945 in Highland Park, Michigan. Trybus was attending Henry Ford Community College in 1965 when he received a draft notice. Wanting to continue his education, he opted to join the Navy Reserves and was sent to Great…

Dave Thrasher was born on May 19th, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan. Thrasher joined the Marine Corps in 1973 and attended boot camp at the Marine Corps Recruit Training Depot in San Diego, California, where trained in aviation electronics and worked on…

John Tamburini was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1948. He graduated high school in 1966 and entered a two-year program at a technical institute before recieving his draft notice in 1969. Tamburini underwent Basic Training at Fort Dix, New…