The hospital staff called me “the victory baby.” My mother, however, was not happy about the vivid purple V on my forehead and was much relieved when the two dark veins close to the surface of my skin faded and disappeared.

My mother’s letter to her brother, Cpl. Anthony Greco, announcing my birth in 1943, found him somewhere in Belgium, where he and his buddies cheered my special marking as a sign that World War II might soon be over. Actually, it was over sooner for my uncle than for his friends.