Overview

This work tells the personal stories of boys and girls who left home and enlisted in the U.S. military at ages 11 to 16. Many had difficult home lives, some wanted adventure or a better future, but all wanted to serve their country. They missed high school proms, adolescent years with family and friends, homecoming parades, and graduation ceremonies. They served aboard ships and submarines, on airplanes, and at faraway bases and battlefields. Some became prisoners of war. Many performed above and beyond. Jack Lucas earned the Medal of Honor at Iwo Jima six days past his 17th birthday. Calvin Graham enlisted at age 12 and was wounded at Guadalcanal aboard the USS South Dakota. His story was made into a movie starring Rick Schroder. A 13-year-old girl enlisted but was later discovered and sent home from Europe. General Eisenhower told her, ""Go home and grow up, little girl, we need more soldiers like you."" One underage veteran became a senator, another, a governor, still another a Chief of Naval Operations. This book reveals why and how they got in, and what happened to them when they were there.

Full Product Details

Author:   Allan C. Stover
Publisher:   McFarland & Co Inc
Imprint:   McFarland & Co Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 17.80cm , Height: 1.00cm , Length: 25.40cm
Weight:   0.358kg
ISBN:  

9780786474530

ISBN 10:   078647453
Pages:   200
Publication Date:   07 July 2014
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Available To Order  
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents Acknowledgments delete ix Foreword delete 1 Preface delete 3 1. What Do You Mean, Too Young to Serve? delete 5 2. Children at War delete 14 3. How Did We Pull It Off? delete 25 4. Why We Did It delete 43 5. Some Wouldn’t Give Up delete 51 6. In the Beginning: Surviving Boot Camp delete 55 7. Surviving the First Assignment delete 67 8. Young Prisoners of War delete 75 9. Those Who Were Caught delete 80 10. Brothers and Buddies delete 87 11. The Youngest of the Young delete 93 12. The Youngest Women delete 108 13. They Had It Tougher Than Most delete 124 14. A Few More Stories delete 155 Appendix. Veterans of Underage Military Service (VUMS) and the “Underage Veterans Handbook” delete 179 Notes delete 183 Bibliography delete 185 Index delete 187

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Author Information

The late Allan C. Stover used a forged birth certificate to enlist in the U. S. Coast Guard at age 14 during the Korean War. After an honorable discharge at age 18, he served on a Great Lakes ore carrier. Despite never having earned a high school diploma, he earned two college degrees and was a registered professional engineer. He was the founder of the Veterans of Underage Military Service and a member of American Legion Post 347 and Korean War Veterans Post 169. He lived in The Villages, Florida.

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