Hi,
I live in Southern CA. My father, who died in 2012 at the age of 89 , was the son of Mate Nikolac. My grandfather Mate immigrated to the US in 1913 with his father Ivan Nikolac. The ship manifest indicates his age was 17 but it was actually 15. Historically, I am sure that my great grandfather was protecting his son from being conscripted in into the Austro-Hungarian army as cannon fodder which was done to the Croatian male population during that time.. My father attended the University of CA, Berkeley at age 16 and after WW2 went to Georgetown law school. I am one of his three daughters. I have been to Croatia and visited relatives in Sarica Struga.