Nimrath your Grandfather being a contributor to the Doolittle raid sound like he would have been a great guy to talk to about the war. Your Father's contributions as a merchant marine should not be overlooked either. The merchant navy here in Canada too kept Great Britain fed and supplied and many ships that were sent out ended up at the bottom of the North Atlantic. They were sitting ducks.
I grew up around many of that Greatest Generation and they were cut from a different cloth indeed. While some glory grabbers like John McCain are out there there most of that Greatest Generation that I knew personally had to be cajoled into telling some of their stories.
My hat is off to them and that includes the Merchant Navy as well as the aging Vietnam Vets many of whom weren't treated right.