Charles J. Alvarez Sr. was born in New York City [Annotator’s Note: New York City, New York] in September 1926. He grew up with four brothers and one sister. All four of his brothers served in the military during World War 2. He lived in a neighborhood with various ethnicities. His parents immigrated to New York from Spain by way of Mexico. His father worked for Inter Rapid Transport (IRT) [Annotator’s Note: Interborough Rapid Transit Company]. He did not feel like he lived through the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: The Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] because everyone was going through the same thing. As a result of having family in Spain, Alvarez knew of the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. On 7 December 1941, Alvarez heard the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941] when he exited a movie theater and read the news as it came across a ticker in Times Square. Being a kid, he did not really feel impacted by the breakout of the war, except that he missed his brothers. His mother was very concerned for her sons while they were in service. [Annotator’s Note: Clock rings at 0:08:52.000.] Two of his brothers fought in the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. Alvarez chose the Navy because he liked the sea. He joined the Navy in December 1943 and was called to active duty in January 1944. He attended six weeks of boot camp at Sampson, New York before being assigned to the USS Guam (CB-2) as a fireman in June 1944. He did not like waking up early during boot camp. Even though it broke his mother’s heart to see him go into service, Alvarez felt compelled to go and fight for his country. His duty as fireman was to maintain the boilers and burners.

Charles J. Alvarez Sr. was assigned to the USS Guam (CB-2) as a fireman in June 1944. His crew got along well together. He felt that they were under attack all the time while the ship traveled through the Pacific. Alvarez recalls being under enemy attack while in the Pacific and listening to the sounds of friendly and enemy fire from his station in the boiler room. He often prayed during the attacks. He recalled one time that the USS Guam was at Ulithi, Caroline Islands with a bunch of other ships. He knew his brother was on the USS Washington (BB-56), but he could see him because the Japanese were attacking the area. After they left Ulithi, they traveled to a close perimeter of Japan and came under fire. His ship also went on a couple of bombardments. Alvarez did not have much feeling towards the Japanese, except he wished that they would stop. Even though he was not on deck, he knew when his ship was attacked by Zeros [Annotator's Note: Japanese Mitsubishi A6M fighter aircraft, referred to as the Zeke or Zero]. While working, he kept one hand on his work and the other clutched around rosary beads in his pocket. After the USS Franklin (CV-13) was badly damaged in an attack, the Guam escorted her part of the way back to Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. The Japanese attacked the damaged ship for much of the escort. [Annotator’s Note: A clock dings at 0:23:50.000.] One time when he was in Ulithi, he was allowed to get off the ship and swim in the ocean and was served a picnic. Sometimes he would receive mail from his parents. Alvarez was always impressed by the closeness and camaraderie aboard the ship and recalls the fact that he, a Catholic, attended faith services for Protestants and Jews. During the war, he went into Japanese waters with a minesweeper to sink Japanese ships. Though he says he was often too busy to think about what was going on during war, the inevitability of an invasion of Japan worried him greatly. He heard the announcement of the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] over the public announcement system. When the war ended, Alvarez was relieved that he would make it home alive to see his mother again.

Charles J. Alvarez Sr. was assigned to the USS Guam (CB-2) as a fireman during his service in World War 2. When the Japanese surrendered, the Guam was sent to Korea to secure the area. While there, Alvarez was able to go ashore and walk among the Korean people who were glad to be liberated. After a month in Korea, the Guam made her way back to the United States. Alvarez shared his bunk with a soldier who was aboard ship while being transported back to San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California]. He witnessed a burial at sea, which was a very sad moment. He had the chance to meet the Secretary of the Navy while he was aboard the Guam. He was discharged from Lido Beach [Annotator’s Note: Lido Beach, New York] in late 1946 with the rating of fireman first class after he had enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home]. He enjoyed being reunited with his family and friends. He did not have trouble readjusting to civilian life after he was discharged from the service. He signed up for the 52-20 club [Annotator's Note: a government-funded program that paid unemployed veterans 20 dollars per week for 52 weeks] and began to work in a parking lot parking cars. He moved to Miami [Annotator’s Note: Miami, Florida] and got a job working for a dry dock company. [Annotator’s Note: Clock dings at 0:38:50.000.]

Charles J. Alvarez Sr.’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was when it was announced that the war was over. He was so relieved that he did not have to invade in Japan. He fought because it was the thing to do and he wanted to be part of it. The war made him grow up and become more worldly. He was also impressed with how everyone got along with one another. He is proud of his service and that he was part of defending his country. He is unsure what Americans think about World War 2 today. Alvarez believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because it is part of our country’s history.