Roger Reidy

While still a student at Harvard University, Roger Reidy enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Finishing his studies as part of the V-12 Navy training program at Harvard, he would become friends with Robert F. Kennedy and encounter the future Academy award winner Jack Lemmon. Because of his background in engineering, the Navy sent Reidy to Camp Endicott in Davisville, R.I., to train with a construction battalion. With the 94th Construction Battalion Seabees, Ensign Reidy was stationed on Guam. He also served with the 76th and 23rd Construction Battalions. They helped prepare the island to be a base for the invasion of Japan and built Northwest Field and a breakwater in the harbor. Both are still in use today. While on Guam, Reidy was in charge of a group of Japanese prisoners, supervising a construction project. In this capacity he learned to understand the enemy the Allies had just defeated.