Angel Gonzalez was 18 years old when he was drafted to serve in World War II.
The army allowed him to finish his last semester of high school and when graduation day arrived he walked across the stage in his new, albeit loose-fitting, uniform.
“He was so skinny they never could find a uniform to fit him,” Margie Gonzalez, his wife, said. “He just wore baggy clothes. I have one picture where he looked like a refugee.”
Despite his youth, Angel Gonzalez swallowed his fear, packed his uniform and went to basic training, where, incredulously, he lost even more weight.
Over the next year he was sent to three camps where his duties ranged from rifle instructor to mail clerk. He was one of the few on base with a license so he became the new mail truck driver.
“I drove it for a long time and every time I went in I used to write down, ‘check the clutch because it’s not going in,’ and somebody said ‘It’s a double clutch,’” Angel Gonzalez said. “And I remember thinking ‘there’s only one clutch in the floor!’ I didn’t know about double clutching. I guess that tells you how young I was, doesn’t it?”
In spite of his fear, Angel Gonzalez never once considering skipping the draft. They told him to go, so he went.
“It was a disgrace if you didn’t go,” Angel Gonzalez said. “And not only that, you had to go. It was a must and an honor … it’s sad when people would move to Canada or different places when they didn’t want to serve because everybody should take their turn. It would be great for all young men to serve some time to know how important it is.”
Angel Gonzalez grew up speaking Spanish as his first language, which caused him to be held back one year in school. His father was from Spain and, though he was born and raised in Tampa, he said he always thought he had to work a little bit harder and learn English a little better than those who just grew up speaking one language.
He had only been in the Army for a little over a month when an American B-29 bomber dropped the atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Immediately, 80,000 people were killed with tens of thousands more following from radiation poisoning. Quickly, the tides of the war began to shift.
“It was hard to visualize that the war was over,” Angel Gonzalez said. “It happened so fast. And we didn’t know enough about the atomic bomb either. That’s another thing, how much damage it did. It could’ve ruined any nation.”
Prior to the bomb, he said everyone was worried they would have to invade Japan. If that happened, he said the assumption was they would be killed. The U.S. was looking for an island because Japan was too far away. That search was unsuccessful, but then the U.S. dropped the bomb.
“It was probably the worst and best thing that’s ever happened to us,” wife Margie Gonzalez said.
When the war was over the plan was for the U.S. to send troops to South America because it was believed the communists were going to attempt to take over there. Angel Gonzalez was selected to go because of his ability to speak and write Spanish. At the last minute, the plan was canceled.
So he went back to school, where he met his wife. He said one of the greatest things the Army did was provide for its veterans after the war was over. He was able to go to college on the GI Bill and received his first loan on the GI Loan program.
After moving to Plant City in 1984, Angel Gonzalez joined the Plant City Elks Lodge. He said the Elks have supported him “over and over” through the years. They sent him to a celebration in New Orleans, as well as to Washington D.C. on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, a moment he said he’ll never forget.
“Honored, they just, they honored us very highly,” Angel Gonzalez said.
However, as the years passed, he said he noticed a shift in the public’s view on the military. In 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, everyone was patriotic for the war and anxious to serve, he said. Now, he says it feels different. But his love for America has yet to wane.
“One thing I want to appreciate is our country,” Angel Gonzalez said. “We are so lucky in so many ways but the country has been great as far as anticipating everything that we have wrong and they’ve corrected so many things. It’s a great country. As for the younger generations, don’t be afraid to be patriotic. It’s a great feeling.”
Angel Gonzalez celebrated his 90th birthday in October. He is no longer a skinny teenager wearing a uniform he’d never fill. But the memories of his service and the love of his country remain as strong today as they were over 70 years ago.
“When people say I’m a World War II veteran I feel guilty that I never really fought overseas,” Angel Gonzalez said. “I only hope I did my part and it was still an honor to serve.”