Nobody lives forever and I've had a blessed life.
I needed to join the Navy. If you ask the people in Europe who won World War II, they don't say the Allies, they say the United States won the war and saved the world.
I went on inactive duty in August 1945, and since I had stayed in such good shape and had played ball on military teams, I was ready to start for the Indians just two days later, against the Tigers.
I did what any American could and should do: serve his country in its time of need.
I was only a gun captain on the battleship Alabama for 34 months. People have called me a hero for that, but I'll tell you this - heroes don't come home. Survivors come home.
If you ask the people in Europe who won World War II, they don't say the Allies; they say the United States won the war and saved the world.
