I had grown up in privilege, living in Glen Cove near my grandfather J.P. Morgan who had a 47-room mansion on a 230-mile island in Long Island Sound. In 1915 during World War I, he had floated $3 billion in loans to England when she ran out of funds to buy munitions from America.  This almost cost him his life.  On July 4, 1915, a German national, believing he could stop the flow of munitions to England by killing the banker who supplied the money, taking two pistols, gained access to the mansion, confronted Grandpa at close range and fired both pistols, wounding him in the abdomen and thigh. He recovered, but from then on had a bodyguard of 24 ex-Marines patrolling the perimeter of his island.

Robert M. Pennoyer's war photograph Robert M. Pennoyer, age 19, on duty in 1944 Photo courtesy of Robert M. Pennoyer

In 1917, when America went to war my father served with the Army in France.