| Joe is one of the oldest surviving members of the American Legion Joseph P. Chaisson Post 41 having been a member for sixty three years.
As a veteran of World War II, Joe began his military service in March of 1944 with the United States Navy, attending basic training at Sampson Naval Training Center, Sampson, New York. Upon graduation he was assigned to the Seabee’s, a branch of the Navy that provides combat support engineering. His personal duty assignment was as a Commissary Steward. From Sampson, New York, he traveled a troop train to California and was placed aboard ship for Marshall Islands in the Pacific. Joe’s Seabee unit provided follow up combat support such as temporary housing and supply storage in preparation for the invasion of Japan.
Joe went from the Marshall Islands to the uninhabited Caroline Island and eventually ended up on the Island of Okinawa at a place called Naha. They had housing similar in design to an igloo except it was made of concrete blocks and covered with earth. The structure protected them from air attacks and monsoon storms. Okinawa was to be a major jumping off point in the plan to invade the Islands of Japan. On the evening of August 15, 1945, Joe was watching an outdoor movie when suddenly search lights and anti-aircraft fire lit up the sky. He thought they were coming under attack, but the word soon came down that the Japanese had surrendered and the partying went on through out the night.
Joseph Villani was released from the Navy March 15, 1946 and returned to raise a family in Milo.
In 2008 Joe was honored as Parade Marshall for the Memorial Day Parade and at age 87 he is still active weekly with the American Legion Programs. | |
- JOSEPH VILLANI
