For as long as his parents can remember, Joseph John Pycior, Jr., wanted to be in the Navy.

From her home, Stephanie Ross Dunn could hear when the U.S.S. LaSalle was heading out to sea: three deep blasts of its horn as it left its berth, one more as it turned for the Gulf of Gaeta.

Bob Dolan began his military career at the U.S. Naval Academy and, at the age of 40, was commander of the U.S.S. John Hancock, with its motto: “First for Freedom.”