Wesley John Dochick was born in December 1920 in New Britain, Connecticut. He had one brother and three sisters, and a half-sister. His brother George was the first one to serve. Dochick walked to school. When he was growing up, he did odd jobs. He picked fruits and vegetables for people. His father was a common laborer and worked in a foundry. His father was married twice. His mother did not work. When she was a young lady, she worked in a factory and became disabled at a young age. His father's name was Wasil and his mother's name was Anastasia. They did whatever came along during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945]. People were not interested in going to school to learn. They wanted to learn a trade in order to make money. For high school, he went to a trade school. His education did not get him a job. When he was 18 or 19 years old, he started to work for a machine shop. He had his own grinding and polishing machine. He made daggers, jewelry, and switchblades [Annotator's Note: a type of knife]. He liked to go hunting, fishing and shooting targets. When he hunted, he used a 30-06 [Annotator's Note: .30-06 Springfield rifle by Winchester]. He had a derringer [Annotator's Note: a short-barreled pocket pistol] for protection. It was a little gun and in order to hit something, you had to aim. He had a refractor that he used to look at the night sky. He turned 21 years old when Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] happened.

Wesley John Dochick was 21 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. There was a lot of turmoil going on with Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]. Dochick was the main provider for his family under his father. His brother went to school to learn electronics. When the war broke out his brother joined the service in hopes that Dochick would not get drafted. His brother was on a destroyer. Dochick wanted to stay out as long as he could because of his father. When his brother enlisted, his father took it in stride. Dochick was drafted in 1943. After boot camp, he went directly on a ship, as he chosen to join the Navy. He was assigned to the USS Thornhill (DE-195). When he was a kid, he used to see a lot of the battleships and cruisers. He worked his way up to a Storekeeper Third Class. His job was to supply the crew with their cigarettes, and candy.

Wesley John Dochick did not get liberty [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] while his ship [Annotator's Note: the USS Thornhill (DE-195)] was being resupplied. When they went back to port in New York [Annotator's Note: New York, New York], he would get liberty then. He would go home and visit his father. Sometimes he and his brother would get liberty at the same time. Once his brother took off, he went to the Pacific. His brother would back up landing troops on the beaches. His brother's ship was one of the ships with the most combat medals. Dochick wrote home to his family. They would have their pay sent to their father. His father put the money away for them so they would have something when they got home from the service. After the war, he lost contact with everyone. When he went to the Pacific, they went to the Hawaiian Islands first, then on to the Marshall Islands. When they dropped the atomic bombs, he took a picture of the mushroom cloud they created [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945]. Then the war was over. They stayed in the Pacific and patrolled the area. He was confined to the ship. He was discharged in 1945 or 1946.

Wesley John Dochick went back to work in a machine shop after the war, making aircraft parts. Then he worked for Conrad and Masur [Annotator's Note: unable to identify]. They manufactured machine parts. He worked until he was 62 years old and then retired. He wanted to retire before 65 years old because people were dying off as soon as they retired. When he retired his pay was 420 dollars a month eventually it went up to 1,250 dollars a month. He thought he was lucky to survive [Annotator's Note: the war]. He never got hurt and neither did his brother. His brother's ship had been hit by kamikazes [Annotator's Note: Japanese Special Attack Units, also called shimbu-tai, who flew suicide missions in aircraft] and was involved in submarine warfare. They attacked six submarines. They did not wait around to see if they were successful or not because they did not want to become the target. Dochick thinks he became a better person. The war did not affect him. He always wanted to get into the Navy during the Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression, a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1945] years so he would get paid. But too many wanted to enlist so he did not get in. He never got involved with politics. He always voted for who would be the best person no matter who they were. He never went straight Democrat. People were worried about Adolf Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler] conquering the world, especially the Jewish people. He has two Jewish brothers-in-law, and they are great people. His father always said religion did not matter as long as people were good to you. There was a lot of Jewish hatred and Hitler worried people. Dochick got married once. His wife did not want to have children. She wanted to stay home and take care of the money. As time went by, he would ask about the money they had saved. He went to the bank to find out how much money they had. He did not have anything because she put the account in her name. She wanted the money and not him, so he divorced her. One of his Jewish brothers-in-law helped him get to California. He had to wait two years before he could file for divorce because he had to be a resident of the state. He went to the Catholic church out there and met his second wife. She was the best thing he had. She ran the house and money, but she did not take his money. They lived in Sherman Oaks, California. His second wife wanted to have children, but she could not have children. She had one son, but after he was born, she had to have a hysterectomy [Annotator's Note: surgical procedure to remover the uterus]. He has a stepson. She was the best thing to happen to him.