My grandfather Louis James Hopper as a baby held by his mother Anna Huber Hopper

My grandpa Louis James Hopper as a boy

My grandpa Louis James Hopper as a boy with with his sister (Aunt Martha) and his parents - my great grandma Anna Huber Hopper and my great grandpa John Hopper

My grandfather was Louis James Hopper. He was born on October 15, 1917. As an infant, he almost died from the flu influenza of 1917. Prior to World War II, he was hired as a fireman on the Pennyslvania Railroad. During World War II, he was a master sergeant and served in North Africa, France and Germany. After the war, he returned to working on the Pennsylvania Railroad and married my grandmother, whom he had known from high school. He became an engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad (which later became Penn Central) running primarily passenger trains, and especially a PRR passenger train from Cincinnati to Indianapolis known as "Old 40", and head of the local union chapter of the Brotherhood of Locomative Firemen. For a number of years, he became a general organizer of the United Transportation Union (UTU), then returned to being an engineer. At this point, passenger service had been discontinued and he ran all freight trains. He died on May 24, 1984. His name is on a monument at Philadelphia's 30th Street Pennsylvania train station as one of Pennsylvania Railroad employees who fought in World War II. Louis James Hopper was a 33rd degree Mason.

Following are photos of my grandfather Louis James Hopper as a staff sergeant in the army in WWII where he served in Morocoo, Africa, Egypt, Italy (including invasion of Anzio), France and Germany - following by photos of the type of trains he later ran as a railroad engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad.