William DeShazer/Staff<br />
Earl Hodges, 85, of Naples, signed up for World War II at age 17 with the help of his father.<br />
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&ldquo;I told him this is the biggest thing that will probably happen to me in my whole life and I can&rsquo;t miss it,&rdquo; Hodges said. &ldquo;I just wanted to do it.&rdquo;<br />
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He served as a helmsman as a Merchant Marine with the U.S. Maritime Service. He helped guide two liberty ships and six different freighters.<br />
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Hodges recalled being on a tanker off the coast of Florida when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan just shy of his 18th birthday.<br />
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Hodges went on to the Korean War, where he was with the 4404 Field Operation Section with the American Graves Registration Services to help return soldiers to their loved ones properly.