Download Joe Avila 2015 - King High Remembers

Marena Matta
Kylie Hopkins
Mr. Peters, period 1
4 June, 2015
Joe Aviles
Joe Aviles was born on July 1st 1925 in New Mexico. When he was six months old, his
family moved to North Pomona, California, where he was raised. Mr. Aviles comes from
Navajo and Hispanic backgrounds. When he was about 4 years old, the Great Depression
began and it lasted throughout his teenage years. The Great Depression was the period
from 1929 to 1940 when the economy plummeted and unemployment grew. It affected
most families in the worst ways, but not for Joe. Mr. Aviles' father had a steady, well
paying job and therefor his family was fortunate enough to not be affected by either the
Depression. The Great Depression was the period of 1929 to 1940 when the economy
plummeted and unemployment grew. It affected most families in the worst ways, but not
for Joe. His dad had a steady job and his family lived off of their own farmland in
California where they made their own food. Another tragic event known as the Dust
Bowl occurred in the 1930s. It blew dust all across the East Coast and into Kansas,
Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. This forced farmers and sharecroppers to
leave their land behind, but luckily Joe lived in California where he was not affected by
this historic tragedy. Because his family lived on a strip of land that contained fruit and
vegetable plants and their own animals such as goats, chickens and pigs, they were
provided with necessary foods to survive. Growing up, Mr. Aviles was one of eight
children: 6 boys and 2 girls. All of his five brothers served for the United States military
as well. In 1948, Aviles married the love of his life and they currently have three children
together and many grandchildren.
When Aviles was 17, he was often neglected by his teachers and peers due to racism in
the time period. He was told that he wouldn't be graduating with his class, therefore he
decided that he'd be better off if he'd dropped out and join the Navy. Joe signed up for the
Navy when he was 17 in 1943. He chose to sign up for the Navy because they were the
only ones to let under aged boys sign up for the military with their parent’s consent. In
the U.S. Navy, Aviles was proclaimed to be a Senior First Class Ranking. When first
entering the Navy, Aviles participated in very basic training. In boot camp training, he
often had to exercise to stay in shape and he was also taught how to operate guns. Aviles
served on aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga as Gunner and Helmsmen. He participated in six
major battles. The first battle that Aviles was assigned to was part of World War II.
Aviles first boarded an aircraft carrier in 1943. He, along with the men in his troops, went
to six different locations. They first went to Gilbert's Islands, then New Georgia,
Marshalls, Bougainville, Soerabaja, and finally Iwo Jima. Of all the islands, Iwo Jima had
the worst casualties and it really negatively affected Mr. Aviles when he was recalling his
World War II memories and experiences. The men in his troop had a ceremony and burial
for all the men killed out at sea on their ship. The troops would stay and attack each of
these locations from a distance for about a week each and then move onto the next.
Between each of these attacks, their ship would have to stop at these islands and refuel.
The total time spent attacking each island was about two months. The Japanese trained all
of their citizens including woman and children to shoot guns and to "attack the enemy."
Because of this terrible act, President Truman decided to drop two nuclear bombs on
Japan. Many lives were lost and the Japanese people that weren't affected feared for their
lives and eventually surrendered because they knew if the United States kept attacking,
the Japanese population would dramatically decrease and they would still lose the war.
During the war, the daily life of a soldier was difficult. They often had to exercise to keep
in shape and they didn't have warm beds to sleep on at the end of the day. The soldiers
usually slept on the floor or ammunition boxes. Because of the food and supply shortage,
they had poor diets as well. They'd often eat potatoes, beans or anything they could get
their hands on. In 1948, Aviles was honorable discharged from the U.S. Navy. Through
his service in the U.S. Navy, Aviles earned a number of honorary medals including:
World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign
Medal, Honorable Service Lapel Pin and the Discharge Button.
At the age of 22, Aviles was certain that he wanted to continue in his line of duty so he
joined the U.S. Army to complete a total of five years in the service and after only two
years of being married and having two kids, he was soon called into the Korean War in
1950. In the U.S. Army, Aviles was proclaimed to be a Staff Sergeant. Along with
contributing to battles, he also steered ships. The ships were typically 1000 feet long and
carried up to 3000 sailors. Although Aviles hardly communicated with his family during
his service because of slow mailing, he made a lot of strong connections and friendships
with other sailors in his unit because of all the time they spent with one another. This is
one of the main reasons it was difficult for Aviles to be completely open with his
experiences. Currently, he is only in touch with three of those sailors that he became
friends with. In 1953, Aviles was sent home from the Korean War and reunited with his
family. Mr and Mrs. Aviles had one more daughter after his safe return home. Through
his service in the Army, Aviles also earned several medals. These medals include: Army
of Occupation Medal World War II and Japan Clasp, Korean Service Medal and Bronze
Star Attachment, Combat Infantryman Badge 1st Award, and the United Nations Service
Medal.
Veteran Aviles' post-war life seems to be very typical and similar to the average
American's life. When returning from war, Americans seemed to be unwelcoming and
particularly cruel with veterans because most were completely anti-war. However, Aviles
was not very bothered but the lack of support because the way he saw it was that he did
what he had to do to protect his country. When he came back home for good in 1953 no
one greeted him, thanked him, or celebrated his arrival. This was normal after all the wars
that had been going on because people were getting tired of it and were going against it.
Immediately after returning from war for the last time in 1953, he and his wife had
another daughter. Having four people to support, Aviles quickly found a job in
construction. He worked in construction from 1953-1982 and has an early retirement at
the age of 55 due to disability reasons. Aviles sees his position in war as having a positive
effect and encourages students to join the military if possible. Currently, Aviles is in a
club called Veterans of Foreign War (VFW). In this club, veterans get together once a
month and pray for those who were lost, died, prisoners of war, etc. They also have
fundraisers and events that help disabled veterans and veterans in need. Recently, Aviles
visited one of the current bases being used for the Military and noticed how lucky they
were for what they have now compared to what they had when he served.