Frank Thomas Oravecz |

| World War, 1939-1945
Army
Battery E, 64th Coast Anti-Aircraft Artillery
Pacific Theater; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Fort Shafter, Hawaii; Puget Sound, Washington
Sergeant
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For Thomas Oravecz, enlisting in the Army provided a way out of the coal mines of West Virginia; serving in Hawaii offered the promise of balmy conditions and a chance to play baseball. Even as he saw Japanese planes flying overhead, it was unbelievable that his home for two years was under attack. The day’s turmoil didn’t end there: reports circulated that the Japanese would return for another attack or invasion. Come nightfall, soldiers shot at anything that moved--including the mongooses rustling in the bushes.
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