Like so many World War II veterans, Martin D. Marvich Jr. was not one to talk about his exploits in combat, or what he did to earn the Silver Star for gallantry during the pivotal Battle of Guadalcanal.
“He never, ever spoke about any of the combat aspects of the war. Never, ever,” said his son, Dennis Marvich, 76, of Washington, D.C.
His oldest sister, Nancy Finnessy, 72, of Orlando, Fla., said she does not remember her father ever talking about the experience.
“My dad did not talk a lot about the combat. He did not share the gruesome details,” said Pam Billet, 61, of Oakmont, the youngest of the Marvich children.
The late Marvich, who lived in Youngwood and died in 1975 at age 55, will be one of seven service members inducted at 2 p.m. Saturday into the Joseph A. Dugan Jr. Hall of Valor at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum, 4141 Fifth Ave., in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood.
Among the inductees are a Fayette County father and son who both were awarded a Silver Star: Maj. Joseph W. Novotney for gallantry during World War II and Capt. Laurence C. Novotney for heroism in the Vietnam War.
The Silver Star is one of several decorations — including the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross and Distinguished Flying Cross — that qualify a member of the military for the Hall of Valor. The new inductees will join more than 750 service members honored since the hall was founded in 1963, said Tim Neff, vice president and director of museum and education at Soldiers & Sailors.
The Marviches knew their father had been awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest military decoration, but the citation provides the details he wouldn’t share. It states that Marvich left his foxhole while Japanese forces were firing mortar shells on Jan. 18, 1943, and climbed to a spot where he could locate the enemy by the flashes from their mortars. He passed this information to his company commander and remained in his advanced position to observe and direct mortar fire, even as enemy shells burst nearby.
Because of his exceptional courage and initiative, the enemy positions were silenced.
Marvich was a student at what was then Pennsylvania State College, studying agricultural education, when he enlisted in the Army in November 1941 — less than a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He grew up on a small farm in Yukon, the son of Austrian immigrants and the seventh of eight children.
When he returned home from the war, he worked in a program to train veterans who wanted to be farmers, his children said. He also served as a factory supervisor.
Billet said she has donated her father’s uniform and other items from his service to the museum.
“I had dad’s medals since 1975 and finally decided this was the year to donate them,” Billet said, so they would be preserved for others to see. “It’s such an honor thinking dad’s things will be there forever.”
Dennis Marvich said his father would have been honored by the induction.
“To have this ceremony take place … I think it is wonderful,” he said.
Having the Hall of Valor there to tell the stories of these service members is vital, Billet said, especially as the generation passes on.
“It is so important to have these stories of heroism, to understand, to reflect and learn from,” she said. “It will be preserved for generations.”