When Cancer Arrived, The Battle Was Second Nature For Uncle And Nephew Veterans
Michael Menta, who served in the Navy, bonded with his uncle, Sal Leone, a former Marine, over their shared experience as veterans. But when Leone got cancer, Menta assumed another soldierly role.
Ever since he was a child, Michael Menta looked up to his uncle Sal Leone for becoming a Marine. Menta would eventually follow in Leone's footsteps to serve his country, enlisting in the Navy during his senior year of high school.
Their shared veteranship brought them closer.
"We spoke the same language," Menta said, when he and Leone visited StoryCorps last month.
"You know, nobody knows that they have cigarettes in a C-Ration. Or Chiclet[s]
