This pile on Paterno stuff is getting pretty weird.
If he joined in 1944 he very well may have served the duration plus 6 months. It's a pretty safe assumption he served the duration.
I believe Paterno is 84 in 2011 which would mean he was born in 1926 or 1927. He would have been 17 or 18 in 1944 (I think you only became “draftable” then at the age of 18); I don’t believe you could sign up any younger altho’ my uncle did in the WW2 Navy when my grandfather sigend for him at 16, I believe.