They are my uncles, soldiers during World War II. Three of them--Jay, Tom and Danny Baluh--died in that war, all within 12 months. My grandfather was in the picture too; he died years later, heartbroken.
My uncles died before I was born. I knew almost nothing about them. It was their reaction to hearing about the film. In the movie, there is a daring mission to bring a fourth brother back home.
There were no such heroics in real life; there was nothing left to rescue. When I began my search in I had no intention of involving my family. There was no point, I thought, in having them relive all that pain just to satisfy my curiosity. Records in Pennsylvania were destroyed by Tropical Storm Agnes in And the biggest obstacle of all: World War II vets are dying at a rate of 1, per day.
An official at the records center said I needed their service numbers and politely told me I would need a closer relative to make the requests. Their parents are dead, I said, and the men never married and had no children. The Army said it would need the dates of death to search death and burial files. The Church of St. Stephen in Plymouth, Pa. I remembered hearing that a Baluh post had been named in their honor.
Jay was a string bean, tall and incredibly thin. Danny was cute, and young--he was drafted at 18 and died about two months after his 19th birthday. Tom wore a big grin, and as I got to know him better, I learned how different he was from the others.
