Vic was born and raised on the Morelli Ranch near Occidental. During World War II, he was in the signal core. His ship, Rohna, was sunk by a German guided bomb off the coast of North Africa. The Rohna sank, causing the largest loss of men (about 1200) at sea during the war. Vic was lucky enough to be rescued after about 6 hours in the rough sea. He was one of about 700 survivors. Several books have been published about the details of this sinking.

After the war, Vic and his brother, Frank worked for the next 20 years logging redwood and fir trees for Andrew J. Blaney. Most of the logging was done on a 3000 acre parcel (part of the Bodega Rancho) located a few miles west of Occidental.