He had an amazing life! How in the world did he do all of that at 9 years old! He must have been tough as a boot!
His older brother Jack and his father were both on board, so he was with his family.
He went into the Navy in WW2 at 17, and was at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
He loved photography and classical music, and played records for the crew of his ship. One day the captain went on deck to hear the sailors whistling “The Soldiers March” from “Faust” as they were painting the deck!
So, even though he was “tough”, he had an artist’s soul.