My beloved mother and father! My father served as a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy during WW 2.
My father wanted to be a fighter pilot, but when he got into training they found out, that even though he had perfect vision, he was color blind. Then he tried to convince them that he could be a night fighter because at night, being color blind did not matter. In the end, he became a SeaBee.
While he was in the Navy he won the All Service Light Weight Championship, in 1946. I vaguely remember being at the Balboa Stadium, in the Panama Canal Zone, during the fight, although, I was more interested in running up and down the stairs. My mother told me that I had so much energy that it was very difficult to manage my behavior.
At the same time, before my father died he told me, " Son if I had my life to live again I would never participate in any sport whose purpose was to hurt another human being."
He also told me throughout my life that there was no reason to drop atomic bombs on Japan. He said Japan was already defeated, and with some patience, Japan would have had no choice but to surrender, unconditionally.
