In his diary, “From White Hat to Gold Braid,” my father, Peter John Kuyper, a sailor and officer, said “I am not a hero!” I disagree. He was like so many young men and a few women. He enlisted in 1937 and rose from the lowly rank of naval seaman to chief electrician in only eight years. He was a warrant officer 12 years in and was offered a commission to ensign, but turned it down. Interesting, because he had passed all the written and physical tests to go to Annapolis Naval Academy soon after his first enlistment. At age …