I had never been much farther east of the Twin Cities in Minnesota than the Wisconsin line, and the free train ride to the Illinois shore of Lake Michigan would broaden my horizons in more ways than one.
It was after dark when a group of us who had been sworn in together in Minneapolis stepped onto the railroad platform at Great Lakes Naval Training Center, tired and wondering what would come next.
Our company commander Chief Petty Officer Ernest Anthony (Tony) Duva was a strong but fair presence among us and an excellent leader with lots of ribbons on his chest and hash marks on his sleeve. Chief Duva possessed the unmistakable fearlessness and bearing that had seen him through submarine service in World War II, including capture and imprisonment by the Japanese. He would tell us occasional “sea stories” and once mentioned that he’d been in prison camp with Gregory “Pappy” Boyington, the Marine flying ace of “Black Sheep Squadron” game. We “boots” were very impressed, and somehow I hung onto that memory.
Fast forward 60+ years. As I read "Unbroken," the story of Olympian Louis Zamperini’s life, he had been in the same compound as Pappy Boyington, and yes, there on four separate pages was Ernest Duva, a young sailor who served as chief cook and food “scrounger” for his prison mates, enduring the misery they all encountered at the hands of their captors.
I doubt that Tony is with us anymore, but I’m sure he would be justifiably proud of his mention in Hillenbrand’s book. I surely cherish the insight, and some of my surviving boot camp pals, wherever they are, may feel the same way if they read Hillenbrand’s book.