Coltonite Joseph Bernal Honored with Military Banner

Coltonite Joseph “Joe” Bernal was honored for his service in the Military by his friends, family, and the City of Colton with his very own banner installation ceremony this past June. Born on Aug. 11 1925, Richard shared, “he was born in the same house he passed away in on Valley Boulevard in Colton, down the street from his banner.” “He started school at the old Lincoln Elementary School, which was located where the Civic Center now stands,” he added. Bernal was inducted into the U.S. Navy on Nov. 17, 1943 and served for two years until Dec. 27, 1945. During his two years, he served aboard the Aircraft Carrier the USS Hornet. His title was “Machinist Mate 3C and his duties included working in refrigeration aboard the ship. According to his son Richard Bernal, during his service on the USS Hornet, it received many presidential Citations for performance in combat in the Pacific Theater. “Our Dad enjoyed seeing foreign lands during his tour of duty but he never made a big deal of being a veteran until his later years when people would come up to him and thank him for his service,” his son Richard shared. “He liked to wear his WW II Veteran USS Hornet hat.” Richard explained that his father rarely spoke about his experiences in the Navy but he did share a few things about his service to his children. Bernal shared with his son Joe that on while he was on the route from Hawaii across the Pacific, he witnessed an “awesome view”, Richard described, that was a myriad of naval vessels as far as he could see in every direction. Also, he shared with his daughter Patricia that many of his friends were lost at sea during typhoons as they were tossed overboard due to the storms and unfortunately couldn’t be recovered. Richard explained that his father also told him that the scariest times throughout his service were the kamikaze attacks. Although born in Colton, Bernal’s father bought a small grocery store in Brawley, California and ended up moving the whole family there in 1932. However, according to Richard, Bernal worked at the store and went to high school where he met his future wife and Richard’s mother Louisa. Shortly after Bernal’s father passed away in early 1942, Bernal and Louisa, both 17 years old at the time, eloped in Yuma, Arizona. Richard said, “They were together for 69 years and lived together in the house on Valley Boulevard until her death in 2011.” After Bernal was discharged in late 1945, he had several jobs. First, he went to work at the PFE Railroad that was located in South Colton. Bernal later worked for the Ice Plant where lead him to be hired as a groundskeeper and tree trimmer for the City of Colton. Richard shared, “He was well known when he was the groundkeeper at Veteran's park in south Colton.” Bernal later took the job, he later retired from at age 63, with Colton Unified School District as he worked as a groundskeeper at Bloomington and Colton Jr. High Schools. “Joe Bernal was called "The Mayor of Valley Blvd" by some and was well known and highly respected in his native Colton,” Richard said. The idea to get Bernal a military banner came from his children Patricia Davison, Joseph M. Bernal, Ramona Magana, Janice Campa, Richard Bernal, and Rosemary Oliveros. “[We] saw other veterans being honored, we all decided to submit his name for an application,” Richard said. Many friends and family members were able to attend the ceremony along with Councilman Gonzalez and Chief Deputy City Clerk Sabdi Sanchez. Unfortunately, the day of the installation ceremony the City had a few equipment shortages and was unable to officially hang Bernal’s banner until a week later. “It was good to at least unveil banner for family and friends who attended the ceremony,” he explained. According to Richard, Joe's younger sister Lucy Contreras is the sole surviving sibling of five brothers and sisters and currently resides in their hometown of Colton.