Wow!! What a guy…. He joined the Navy in Brooklyn because they had a basketball team and ended up heading overseas on a destroyer which left Pearl Harbor just two weeks before the December 7th attack. He was then assigned to PBY (submarine hunter) airplane in Brazil for the remainder of the war. He had a lifelong love of boats and always joked that he learned to sail in Brazil.

He came back from the War, raised six children and sent them to college, renovated quite a few houses, retired and had the opportunity to travel for twenty some years before he passed away. He loved architecture and building. He would have loved to have seen the construction of the WWII Memorial.

During the construction–especially during the eagle installation, vets parked themselves right by the entrance to watch the construction. My dad passed away in 2002 and I had the opportunity when the inspection plate of the eagle was open to write his name and military occupation inside the passage. I was also able to dedicate the book to my parents who encouraged me to pursue my avocation rather than just make a living.