Vic was born and raised on the Morelli Ranch near Occidental. During World War II, he was in the signal core travelling aboard a ship convoy in the Mediterranean Sea. His ship, Rohna, was sunk by a German air-launched radio-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 couldn't swim, but he had on a life jacket and was able to get into the water before he was hit in the head by flying debris and knocked unconscious. He was lucky enough to be rescued after about 6 hours in the rough Mediterranean Sea, but he carried a fluid-filled lump the size of a golf ball on his head for the next 40 years, then he finally got it removed. 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.