Dad had hardly spoken a word about the war over the years. At this event, we found a likely reason for why. I believe he experienced PSD for the rest of his life. I know he was on a 10% disability after being separated from the Navy.
Using photos that were streamed by my niece, Abby Kepka, considering there were numerous photographs, was a monumental task. Because of the photo's age, they have started to fade. I have spent many hours working on them in Photoshop to bring them back to life.
Along with the original content, I have some written content to enlighten the reader about the contents of this album. This project gave me a better understanding of my father's time during the war.
I divided this book into chapters that did not occur in the original album. They look at his fellow shipmates, Navy basic and radio training, more landing training in Hawaii, his "artistic" endeavors, the Battle of Iwo Jima, and Japan after the war. Until this venture, I was not aware of how much and far he traveled during the war.
Leo was quite young when he joined the Navy on September 3, 1943. He joined the Navy when he was 17 years old. My grandparents, Joe and Blanche Kepka, had to sign papers to allow him to join.
They were happy that he joined the Navy because they believed he would be safer there. They were wrong! He was severely wounded on the beach when he landed with the Marines on the island of Iwo Jima. He was a month away from turning eighteen. None of the young men on that beach had yet tasted actual combat.
I hope you find this book an interesting read. I sure enjoyed leaning about my father and his trials in World War Two. By investigating his photos, I learned much about the quiet 18-year-old that went to war.
