Prewar life

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Lee, Theodore Early Life and Paratrooper Training
Theodore R. Lee was born in August 1922 in Cody, Wyoming. He had poor eyesight as a child and had to wear thick glasses...
Burns, Lloyd Early Life and Pilot Training
Lloyd Burns was born in Bossier, Louisiana but grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana during the Great Depression. He had ten...
Pesky, John Early Life and Pro Baseball
John “Johnny” Pesky was born in Portland, Oregon and went off to play baseball rather than going to college. He has a...
Lanzetta, Frank Early Life and Service on the USS Hill (DE-141)
Frank Dominic Lanzetta was born in August 1925 in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. He had six...
Maiten, Sidney Early Life and Serving on the USS Catoctin (AGC-5)
Sidney Maiten was born in September 1925 in Brooklyn, New York. He enjoyed his early life there. He delivered...
Dugas, Sr., Maurice Early Life and Testing Atomic Bombs at Bikini Atoll
Maurice Joseph Dugas, Sr. was born in September 1928 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father worked at the Roosevelt...
Allen, George Early Life and the Attack on Pearl Harbor
George Allen was born in September 1925 in Alexandria, Louisiana. He had two sisters growing up there with him. His...
Baham, Marietta Early Life and the Attack on Pearl Harbor
Marietta Estopinal Baham was born in Arabi, Louisiana. The depression [Annotator's Note: Great Depression] was very sad...
Rose, Olaf "Olly" Early Life and the Draft
Olaf Rose was born in August 1921 in Pontiac, Michigan, and was the oldest of four children. His father was in the...
Higgins, Gordon Early Life and the Draft
Gordon Higgins was born in February 1924 in New Haven, Connecticut, one of two sons who lived with their mother and...
Bederson, Benjamin Early Life and the Draft
Benjamin Bederson was born in New York, New York, the son of Russian immigrants. He grew up in The Bronx and Brooklyn...
Breen, Vernon Early Life and the Family Business
Vernon Breen was born in Chicago [Annotator's Note: Chicago, Illinois] in March 1925. He grew up in River Forest,...
Martello, Dominic Early Life and the Invasion of North Africa
Dominic Martello served with the Service Company [Annotator's Note: early Cannon Company, before they established them...
Reissig, Floyd J. Early Life and the Navy
Floyd James Reissig, known as Buddy, was born in Travis County, outside of Austin, Texas in March 1919. His father was...
Goyette, Donald Early Life and the U.S. Entrance Into War
[Annotator's Note: The interview begins with a conversation between the interviewer and Donald F. Goyette who goes off...
Wofford, Jesse L. Early Life and Training
Dr. Jesse L. Wofford was born in the small, working community of Drew, Mississippi, where his family was in the farming...
Holt, Thomas Early Life and Training
Thomas Michael Holt was born in July 1919 in Oak Ridge, North Carolina. His father was head of a military school. Most...
Ingram, Ruth Early Life and Wartime
Ruth Ingram was born in Scarsdale, New York in November 1928. Ingram was 13 years old when the war broke out and has...
Weber, Norman Early Life Before the War
Norman Weber was born in August 1935 in New York City [Annotator’s Note: New York City, New York]. His father was from...
de Marcken, Christian Early Life in Belgium
Christian W. de Marcken was born in January 1928 in Brussels, Belgium. He was the oldest of nine children, and he and...
Achee, Lorraine Early Life in New Orleans
Lorraine Achee was born in September 1924 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She grew up in the Carrollton neighborhood which...
Irvine, Elizabeth "Elizabeth Lautzenheiser" Early Life in the Philippines
Elizabeth Lautzenheiser Irvine was born in July 1927 in Baguio, Philippines [Annotator's Note: Baguio, Luzon,...
Brandes, Rita Early Life in Wartime Germany
Rita Brandes was born in July 1939 in Bremen [Annotator's Note: Bremen, Germany]. As a young child, she knew only the...
Aigner, Leslie Early Life Leading to Deportation
Leslie Aigner was born in Nové Zámky, Czechoslovakia. In 1939, the town became part of Hungary. At the time, Aigner was...
Carroll, Orville Early Life through Deployment
Orville Carroll was born in Bend, Oregon in December 1924. He grew up in Sisters, Oregon, graduated from high school...
Easterling, Lewis "Tom" Early Life to Army Air Force Training
Lewis Thomas Easterling was born in January 1924 in Ellerbe, North Carolina and grew up in Rockingham [Annotator's...
Phillips, James Early Life to Army Life
James W. Phillips was born in August 1921 in Middletown, Pennsylvania. He was the oldest of four, and his father was a...
Jucksch, William "Bill" Early Life to Assignment
William Jucksch was born in October 1925 in McAllen, Texas. His parents separated when he was just a toddler, and his...
Watson, Donald Early Life to Basic Training
Donald G. Watson was born in 1922 in New London, Connecticut. His father owned one of the first radio stores in the...
Muller, Henry Early Life to Commission
Henry J. Muller, Jr. born 7 April 1917 just one day after the US entered World War One. He was brought up on the...
Jarrell, Royce Early Life to Deployment
Royce Jarrell was born in November 1924 and grew up in DeRidder, Louisiana. He was 17 years old and attending...
Sutcliffe, Albert Early Life to Deployment
Albert G. Sutcliffe was born 12 May 1925 in Bisbee, Arizona. When he was about two years old his family moved to Los...
Baughman, Harry Early Life to Deployment
Harry Baughman was born in Findlay, Ohio. He grew up there during the Great Depression, when "things were tough." When...
Venverloh, Joseph Early Life to Draft to Overseas
Joseph Venerloh was born in 1923 in Saint Louis, Missouri. He was one of seven siblings. His dad worked in the office...
Skare, Theodore Early Life to Drafted
Theodore Skare was born in April 1924 in Two Harbors, Minnesota. His family moved to Chicago, Illinois when he was baby...
Hissey, Paul Early Life to Enlistment in the Army Air Corps
Paul Hissey was born in 1922 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. His father was a Navy man who served in World War 1. His family...

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