Army Pvt. Joe Gandara was a paratrooper who fought in France during World War II. Little is known about him other than that he was the son of Mexican immigrants. However, his bravery and selflessness earned him a posthumous Medal of Honor — nearly 70 years after he sacrificed himself to save his battle buddies.
Gandara was born to Jose Melendez and Ramona Orrantia Gandara, April 25, 1924, in Santa Monica, California. He had two brothers, Edward and Rudolph.
After graduating from Santa Monica High School, Gandara enlisted in the Army two months before his 19th birthday, Feb. 20, 1943. Following paratrooper training at Fort Benning, Georgia, he boarded a troopship to England.
Gandara was assigned to the legendary 82nd Airborne Division. His unit, Company D, 2nd Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, trained for the upcoming invasion of France near Nottingham, England. He parachuted into Normandy, France, during the D-Day invasion, June 6, 1944.
Three days later, near the village of Amfreville, his unit came under heavy enemy fire, pinning the men down for a period of four hours.
Gandara voluntarily advanced alone toward the enemy position. Firing his machine gun from his hip as he moved forward, he destroyed three hostile machine guns before he was killed, according to his Medal of Honor citation.
Gandara was initially awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. However, nearly 70 years later, he posthumously received the Medal of Honor as part of the 2002 National Defense Authorization Act, which called for a review of Jewish and Hispanic American veterans from World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars to ensure that no prejudice was shown to those deserving the Medal of Honor.
“This ceremony reminds us of one of the enduring qualities that makes America great — that makes us exceptional. No nation is perfect, but here in America, we confront our imperfections and face a sometimes-painful past — including the truth that some of these soldiers fought and died for a country that did not always see them as equal,” Obama said.
Following the end of World War II, Gandara was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica, California. However, his legacy lives on in his hometown and throughout the Army.
In 2016, Los Angeles named a Metro Rail station after him near the neighborhood where Gandara grew up, and a year later, Santa Monica dedicated a park in his memory.
In May 2016, a statue of Gandara was included in a memorial to the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Normandy.
The 82nd Airborne Division selected Gandara as one of the 20 soldiers in its 2018 inaugural class of the All American Hall of Fame, and in 2023, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, named a street after him.