Mark Greene grew up in a military family but his dream was to play quarterback. And he was doing well until an injury suddenly ended his career in college. After half-heartedly (at best) trying to fin

Jake Larson joined the U.S. Army National Guard in 1938 in order to earn money and help his family during the Great Depression. He was just 15 years old. By late 1941, he was preparing to leave the se

Raul "Art" Sifuentes was born in Michigan and knew he wanted to be a U.S. Marine when he watched John Wayne in "The Sands of Iwo Jima" when he was just 11 years old. At age 17, while still in high sch

Don Graves was born in Michigan in 1925 and his family struggled mightily during the Great Depression. He was 16 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He immediately ran down to the U.S.

Paul "Bud" Haedike was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943. Before long, he was assigned as a bombardier on a B-17 bomber crew. From the final months of 1944 until the end of the war in Europ

Roger "Buck" Winters was a recent high school graduate working at a tool factory in Texas when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He immediately wanted to quit his job and join th

On April 1, 2024, LCDR Lou Conter, U.S. Navy (Retired) died at the age of 102. He was the last living survivor of the USS Arizona, which was sunk by the Japanese during the attack on Pearl Harbor on D

Chris Alvarez grew up knowing he wanted to serve and that he wanted to serve with the best. After being convinced to join the Marines once he was old enough, a high school teacher who had served in th

Kelly Elmlinger was a three-sport athlete in high school. She excelled in cross country, basketball, and track. After considering military service, she decided to keep playing sports at the next level

Thomas "Drago" Dzieran grew up in Communist Poland. He realized he was being fed lies and propaganda as a boy when he got in big trouble at school for asking simple questions about the government. As