Gene was born on May 15, 1928 and would have been too young for WWII. The minimum age for enlistment during the war was 18, although 17 year-olds were allowed to enlist with parental consent. His US Army service record shows his enlistment as March 28, 1946 (he was still shy of 18 by a few weeks) and he served in the Panama Canal Department.
Service records during this period are often missing or incomplete. But I would have really enjoyed that Point du Hoc Ranger story as told by a master storyteller.
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