My father’s older brother was killed in the Philippines during the Battle of Leyte. Homer died on 14 Dec 1944. He had turned 20 just seven weeks earlier. Rumor says that his unit ran out of ammo.
My father enlisted in summer 1946 after he graduated high school; he was stationed near Tokyo, serving in the Army Air Force. Fortunately, Japan had surrendered before Dad entered the service. Dad returned safely home after three years. He is the guy wearing the red shirt in my photo.
Mom’s uncle was stationed at Pearl Harbor. He survived. He always told how the night before the attack, the Japanese bar owners were giving away all the beer you could drink - they knew the attack was coming and they wanted the soldiers to be hung over.
