Milton Fernandez was born in September 1924 in Puerto Rico. He had eight siblings in his family. His father had a meat market in town and his mother stayed at home. Fernandez lived on a ranch but he did not have chores. He played with the animals. All of his sisters were older than him and he has a younger brother. Fernandez went to school in Santruce, Puerto Rico, but moved to Rio Grande [Annotator's Note: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico] to live with a sister. He worked in a drug store. When Fernandez turned 18 years old, the Army drafted him. He was afraid of being drafted. His mother was concerned about what was happening to the world. He did not talk about the war with people in his school. They did not think they would be drafted because they were in Puerto Rico, even though it was United States property. His friends were surprised when they were drafted. There was no rationing in Puerto Rico. Fernandez lived a quiet life before the war. While he was listening to a baseball game, Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] started talking about the attack at Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Fernandez told his mother he was in trouble because he was about to turn 18 years old. He was not excited about going into the service. He was still attached to his mother. Fernandez thinks peoples' family values were different back then. When he was drafted, Fernandez was sent to a camp in Puerto Rico, where he stayed for three months. Then he was sent to Panama City [Annotator's Note: Panama City, Panama] to train in the jungle. In Puerto Rico, he trained and learned how to shoot a gun. He had never shot a gun before his basic training. Fernandez thought it was exciting, but noisy. He had friends in the camp because they were all from Puerto Rico and knew each other. They were all scared to leave the island. One night, the soldiers were transported to a large boat. When the island disappeared, everyone was sad. His mother thought he was coming to dinner and made him a meal, but he was off the island. Fernandez traveled through the Panama Canal, which he thought was interesting. Afterwards, he went to Hawaii. People in Panama tried to get money out of Americans anyway they could. Soldiers would go to brothels, but Fernandez did not. He did infiltration training in the jungle. He was given a compass and told to cross the island. There would be dummies in trees that Fernandez was supposed to shoot and bayonet, which he thought was fun. He learned how long he would live if he was bitten by a snake. The snakes would get everywhere and sometimes the soldiers would not be able to leave their hammock. One man asked a guard to go to the bathroom and the guard told him to ask his mother. Being in Panama City was the first time Fernandez had been in a big city. It was also the first time he had left Puerto Rico and he was scared. He could see his mother in the kitchen and his home in his mind. The first time Fernandez got sick, he cried for his mother. He had to grow up and learn what he was being taught. In the jungle, he did shooting practice. One day, Fernandez had throat pain and was sent to the hospital. The doctor took a hook and cut his tonsils out. Fernandez was given a tray of food. He has never had problems with his throat since then.

Milton Fernandez was sailed to the Galapagos Islands, near Ecuador. The company was stationed in boxes around the island to look for enemy aircraft. He had been trained to identify aircraft. On the island, Fernandez was told to work at the station and listen to reports. He learned who everyone was by their voice. He then reported to his officer what he heard. When Fernandez got off of work, he would visit his friends who were drinking beer, then he would sleep. There were goats on the island. The soldiers would give the goats beer to drink because there was no water on the island. The goat would stumble around. In the morning, the men drinking would have to wake up early and would make Fernandez get up too. He would not get up until later in the morning, then he would eat breakfast. Fernandez was allowed to eat at any time during the day because he had a special job. Fernandez would walk the island with a lieutenant. At night, he would see sea creatures in the rocks around the coast. Fernandez enjoyed the island. In 1943, everyone was told to clean their barracks and to get rid of their dirty pictures because First Lady Eleonore Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Anna Eleonore Roosevelt, 32nd First Lady of the United States] was visiting. She gave the soldiers a message from the president [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] and thanked them for their service. She was a tall lady and smoked. She was the first First Lady to carry a gun in her purse. Joe Louis [Annotator's Note: Joseph Louis Barrow; American boxer], the boxer, also visited the island. On the island, the soldiers wore shorts. When Roosevelt came, they were told to wear their uniform, which was very hot on the island. They were hoping she would leave soon so they could change. Fernandez remained on the Galapagos Islands for one year. His first job on the island was as a guard. He would have to relieve the other guard at midnight. While on duty, he could hear people walking, which he thought was the Japanese. He was trained to lay down and look around. The person kept walking closer and closer. Soon enough, he saw that it was a herd of goats who started licking him. He was very scared. Fernandez would listen to people talk about day to day things. If someone approached the island, Fernandez would be notified, and then he would tell the air force. There were people from Ecuador working on the island. Fernandez would talk to them. One man in the company looked like an American and was a MP [Annotator's Note: military police]. The Ecuadorians would steal cigarettes from the island. The MP visited the Ecuadorians and started checking their area, but could not find anything. They did not know the MP spoke Spanish and accidentally told him where the cigarettes were hidden. He allowed them to keep the cigarettes the one time. The people in Fernandez's regiment were from Puerto Rico. He served in Company D, 296th Infantry Regiment. Fernandez still remembers his serial number.

Milton Fernandez left the Galapagos Islands and sailed for Hawaii. At that time, the Japanese were everywhere in the Pacific. Submarines would attack early in the morning or at night. One night on the ship, Fernandez was on guard duty and was told to kill anyone caught smoking on deck. If a submarine saw the cigarette light, it would send a torpedo. One night, a submarine attacked the ship. Fernandez was below deck and could almost see the torpedo going through the wall. Everyone was scared. Fernandez could hear it in the water. An MP [Annotator's Note: military police] started walking down the stairway telling people not to go out or they would be shot. The ship was shaking and it was very noisy. He was told either a shark would eat him, or the Japanese would come back to kill him. In Hawaii, Fernandez was told to guard Japanese soldiers. They were moving equipment. Anything with explosives was moved by Americans. One Japanese man had gold teeth. He carried a bomb to Fernandez and dropped it then smiled. It did not explode. The Japanese were treated very well. They were allowed to eat with Fernandez and his men. He was going to be sent to Japan for the invasion, but his buddy, Mr. Truman [Annotator's Note: Harry S. Truman, 33rd President of the United States], dropped the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He believes Harry S. Truman saved his life. Fernandez was very happy when the war ended. Returning home, nobody wanted to spend eight hours in the Panama Canal. They were in a rush to return home. Fernandez did not speak to the Japanese soldiers he guarded because they did not speak the same language. The prisoners were treated well, even though they killed American prisoners in the Philippines. He hated the Japanese back then, but now his best friend is Japanese. He is amazed at how much can change. He thinks they were stupid and they would have killed him if they captured him. He felt the same way about the Germans. When Fernandez returned home, he wanted to get a haircut, shave, and see his mother. He had plans for his life and did not want to remain in the military. He thinks if he stayed, he might have died in Vietnam [Annotator's Note: Vietnam War or Second Indochina War; 1955 to 1975]. In 1946, Fernandez moved to California. He used the G.I. Bill to go to high school and college in California. He did not finish school prior to the war. He was able to buy a house. Fernandez worked on electronics starting in 1949. He fixed televisions and other equipment. In 1949, Fernandez met his wife in college and got married in 1951. They had three girls and a boy. Fernandez had a good life and would do the same things over again.

Milton Fernandez thinks his most memorable moment of the war was to serve in the Army and protect the country from the Japanese and Germans. When he sees how the country is today, sometimes he thinks he wasted his time serving. In 1945, the country was number one and everyone loved the United States. Everyone respected the country. But today, everything is bad. There is no respect for the country and the President makes bad deals for the country. Fernandez hopes he will see someone make the United States like 1945 again. He does not know who that person is, but does not think they will be a politician. Fernandez does not think America would be what it is today if it had not beaten Japan and Germany. They wanted to make the world one race. Fernandez thinks the Japanese were fools to help Hitler [Annotator's Note: German dictator Adolf Hitler]. All the people that helped the United States did the right thing. Fernandez thinks the country would have been taken over by the Axis [Annotator's Note: the Axis Powers consisted of Germany, Italy, and Japan]. Fernandez thinks people come into the country to do bad things that Americans would never do. He wants there to be change in the country. Fernandez thinks it is important for institutes like The National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: in New Orleans, Louisiana] to exist. He also thinks it is important for people to know the United States helped win the war. Fernandez was very serious in the Army. He did his duty and put his heart into it. He was willing to give his life and was proud that he defended his country.