Great story. As it happens, the Battle of the Bulge veteran I lived across the street from was a lifelong Floridian — except for his tour of Europe with the US Army during WW II.
Although surely there were many factors which determined WW2 assignments, I could see consideration being given to home climate, so that Floridians like your neighbor and SoCal natives like my fellow golfer might be sent to North Africa and the Pacific, and northerners to Europe.