 In the weeks leading up to the Bataan Death March (1942); José led his aunt and a childhood friend into the jungle to live until it was safe to return home.José in his own words "when I was twelve, I had to hide my aunt from the Japanese or else they would rape her, me and my friend took rifles from dead Japanese soldiers then took her to the jungle to hide until it was safe to come out again".Inspired by his World War II experiences, José joined the United States Navy in 1946 at the age of seventeen.