Allen grew up in Baltimore, the son of a metalurgist and a homemaker. He attended the University of Maryland and later the University of Maryland as a law student. As a young man he developed an interest in photography. He enlisted in 1941 in the Army Air Corps and subsequently in the Army. Although trained in several specialties, he spent his overseas duty in Saipan heading a truck tire operation with Koreans who had been former Japanese prisoners. His interest in photography led a side business developing photos for GI's stationed on Saipan. He returned home, married, worked as a purchasing agent, and had a daughter and son. He died shortly after his retirement in 1983 at the age of 64.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Christine “Tina” N. Simmons had an interest in genealogy from a very early age. She first tried to research her father’s military history a number of years ago but was told, like many others, that his military records had been burned in the St. Louis, Missouri fire. Several years later she repeated the process and was surprised to receive a large stack of copies of slightly burned records including a trove of information about where and when her father had been stationed.
Tina’s family includes a son, Michael Samuel Simmons, and grandson, Cody Michael Petenbrink, younger brother, Allen Howard Nauss, Jr. twin nephews, Allen John “A.J.” Nauss and Jonathan Michael “Jon” Nauss. A.J. is a career Navy man and Jon enlisted in the Army and went through Officer’s Training School.
Tina currently makes her home in Laurel, Maryland where she lives with her long-time companion, Dennis.