WWII Army medic served at Eniwetok, Saipan, Okinawa
Fouad S. John, who served as an Army medic during World War II, turned 100 in May.
He took part in three Pacific Ocean battles in the Gilbert, Marshall and Ryukyu islands, earning three Bronze Stars from 1941-1945. “Every time you win something, they throw something around ya just like you’re a Christmas tree,” he joked.
Mr. John was born in Uniontown on May 16, 1918, the youngest of Lebanese immigrants Simon and Sadie John’s seven children. He spoke only Arabic at home and started school at age 8. He was raised Maronite Catholic and graduated from St. John the Evangelist School and St. John High School in Uniontown.
As a teenager and young man, he worked in his father’s wholesale grocery business, Simon John and Bros. He was studying biology at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe when he was drafted in 1941.
Mr. John became a staff sergeant medical technician in the 106th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division and took part in the battles of Eniwetok, Saipan and Okinawa. He tells only one story from that time:
“We were walking at night. I met one of my friends, [V.J.] Tagliaferri, and we kept on walking and all of a sudden, he got killed. In a matter of seconds, I lost a friend.”
He worked as a fourthgrade teacher at St. Mary Nativity School and as a salesman for Equitable Life until he retired at 66. He and his wife Sophia had five children: Eileen Plumb of Washington, D.C., Donald and James, both of Uniontown, Lorraine Abdelmalek of Houston, Texas, and Rochelle John of Tampa, Fla. Mrs. John died in 1994 after 44 years of marriage.
When asked the secrets of longevity, Mr. John said he eats just about everything and grew up on a Mediterranean diet. He also loves to laugh. At his birthday party, he enjoyed traditional Lebanese food made by members of St. George Maronite Catholic Church. More than 100 people came, including his five children, dozens of grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, and cousins, neighbors and friends.