At a party last Saturday, I overheard guests discussing the cab driver who was mentioned in my Feb. 23 column.

“Today, I read your column about the cab driver from Bethlehem. He was angry about driving a cab because he held a high position in finance in his country,” said Dave Rezek of Hinsdale. “I’ll bet he’d be surprised to learn that many American-born citizens like George had trouble finding work when they returned from serving our country during World War II.”

Rezek directed comments to George Zak of Willowbrook. Zak, who served in the U.S. Army, is author of “Soldier Boy,” a book detailing his experiences as a 19-year-old prisoner of war following the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded the Purple Heart but refused the medal.

“I felt unworthy of receiving it. I only had frostbitten feet,” said Zak, who eventually had a successful career as a bank controller. “There were other soldiers, like George Catalano, who were shot and deserved the honor far more than I did.”

Catalano of Woodridge was a member of the U.S. Army’s 34th Infantry Division and served in Africa and Italy.

“I received the Purple Heart because I was rifle shot by a sniper bullet in 1944. The bullet entered my right side, scraped my lung and exited my back just missing my spine,” he said.

“After coming home from the war, I returned to Montgomery Ward, which had been my employer at the time I was drafted,” Catalano added. “My wife and I were expecting our first child. I went to see the head of the department I was in when I was drafted to ask for a pay increase of a nickel an hour.

“My boss pulled out his ledger and said he just didn’t see how he could do it at the time. So I told him: ‘I didn’t realize Montgomery Ward was in that bad of shape. You can keep my $40 a week I’m getting,’” he said. “Then I put together some funds and opened up a school supply store and delicatessen.”

The businesses were doing OK, but he sold them after deciding to get more education under the GI Bill of Rights. He graduated from the Bryant & Stratton Business College in Chicago and moved back into the business field. Eventually, he retired as the city administrator of West Chicago.

“You see, people back then had a different mentality. They just came out of the Depression and then World War II. They didn’t expect much,” Rezek said. “Today, when people come to the United States, I think they have a whole different impression. They see America as the place where you can realize all your dreams. What they don’t realize is that every generation in America has an uphill fight to realize their dreams.”

The shoulders are broad on the Statue of Liberty. Yet her arms are heavily laden with citizens who selflessly served in our country’s military and then struggled, upon their return, to attain the American Dream. Perhaps, the words of Rezek, Zak and Catalano offer a measure of comfort and encouragement to the cab driver from Bethlehem. Zak and Catalano serve as examples of two Americans who overcame significant challenges through tenacity, faithfulness and persistence. Their hard work eventually reaped financial, social and spiritual rewards as each man attained his version of the American Dream.