When I was four (early fifties) in the newly minted suburbs of LI nearly every kid’s dad had a WW2 story to tell (mine was 15th Air Force in Libya and Italy). I have a strong memory that the guy across the street had everyone trumped...he was one of Merrill’s Marauders.
My dad flew in the China-Burma-India Campaign as a civilian pilot, in C-46 aircraft. An uncle flew as an AAF navigator from England and then later from Benghazi. He was decorated.