By John J. Turanin
For the MVI
When John Matola Jr. joined the U.S. Army in 1937, he may have been seeking adventure beyond his hometown of Monessen. Instead, he was heading into a three-year nightmare. Most Americans know that the United States entered World War II when the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was attacked by surprise by the Japanese Imperial Navy on Dec. 7, 1941. On the same day, the Japanese attacked the Philippines, Guam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in a massive pan-Asian military operation.
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