 He lied about his age (16) to enlist in the United States Army.During World War II, on December 29, 1944, Dardis was a gunner with the 468th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion in General George Patton's Third Army during the Battle of the Bulge.After twelve hours, Dardis's crew and that of another half-track had shot down four German aircraft with 37-mm cannons and .50 caliber machine guns, while pinned down by aerial bombing and artillery and small arms fire along the Arlon-Bastogne road, for which the other crew were awarded Silver Stars.