May 12, 2021
New York – I was sitting with my friend Manny Greer on the bench outside Ground Support, our favorite coffee house in the Soho neighborhood of Lower Manhattan.
The shop is a favorite of ours because both the owner and the manager pamper us: As soon as they see us sitting there, they automatically bring coffee for me and tea for Manny.
It was getting late and a bit cold that afternoon. It felt like a good time to ask Manny about his experiences during World War II.
He told me that after one month as an 18-year-old college student, he received a letter notifying him that he had been drafted into the U.S. Army. He said he was sent to camp Upton in New Jersey for training. He stayed there for a couple of months until a friend of his, whose father was an officer in the then-Army Air Force, recommended him, and he was transferred to the air service where he was trained as a bombardier.