WWII Army Signal Corps. Frank was on board an Army troop carrier ship at Iwo Jima when his ship was hit by a Japanese kamikaze plane and 20 soldiers were killed. The captain told the troops to jump off the ship and when Frank jumped he landed in a landing craft. Now the Marine troop carrier ships were in front of Franks ship and they were in the process of loading there landing crafts for there beach landings when Frank jumped off his ship. Not thinking anything of it he just thought he was in an Army landing craft and they would be going in later. But being unknown to him his landing craft made the landing on the beach and it was at this time he figured out that he was on a Marine landing craft making the landing on Iwo Jima. Once on the beach all hell broke loose and he ended up fighting with the Marines for the whole duration of the battle which he was personally involved in the battle for Mount Suribachi and the final Banzai attack on the Marines at the end. Note: Frank had hardly any combat training and he had no weapon on him.

Frank was a highly scouted pitcher out of high school and he decided to give up his dream of playing major league baseball to join the Army and help the war effort. His son Paul told him he would finish his dream and he ended up pitching 13 years in the major leagues which included one year with the Yankees in 1979.