So i was working in a Walden Books back in the 90's. It was Perl Harbor day. An old man came in and asked if i had any books on WWII. It so happened that I was kind of a WWII buff and I was familiar with all of the books we had on the subject. So we walk back to the section and we had a great time just talking about the books. It was obvious he was a veteran - so I asked him where he had served. He got this light in his eye and said "Do you know who I am?"
I felt kind of embarrassed and said, "No, sir. I don't." his reply...
"I am Frank B. Rowlett. I broke the Japanese Purple Code. I was one of the first men to be recruited as a codebreaker for the SIS."
I was stunned. We talked for over an hour. He said he'd love to continue the conversation and gave his address and phone number to me. I kind of forgot about it until a while later when i learned he had died.
Talk about a celebrity! I've never mentioned it to anyone up until now.
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