By John Montesano
The Fox Valley Veterans Breakfast Club named Joe West the April 2021 Veteran of the Month.
Joe West was born September 13, 1955 in Aurora and grew up on the East Side of town. He had a good childhood; played sports and did some part-time work at K-Mart and the Hi-Lite Drive-in in Aurora. After graduating from East Aurora High School in 1973, Joe went to work for Richard-Wilcox. It lasted only a few months when he realized that factory work was not for him.
He decided to join the Marines. Although the military draft had ended, in August 1974 Joe took advantage of volunteer service, which allowed him to sign up for two years of service. Joe did his boot camp in San Diego, but because he broke his thumb in training he did an extra month. While recovering, he was put on guard duty in the Correctional Custody Platoon, an unpleasant duty because he saw the awful things done to the “screw-ups.”
Fortunately, his AIT was at the Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, where he was trained as an 81mm mortarman as part of the H&S Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines. Joe participated in numerous live fire and jungle warfare training exercises at various locations on the Islands.
Operation Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacuation of American civilians, military personnel, and at-risk Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam. It was carried out 29–30 April 1975. Joe’s Battalion was called up to participate. Joe’s Battalion was put on red alert for the top secret deployment to assist in the evacuation. With M16s on their laps, they west on a commercial airliner to Okinawa, where they trained for their mission. Ultimately, they were not needed in Vietnam and returned to Hawaii from Okinawa.
In August 1976, Joe received an honorable discharge and returned home to Aurora. After a many odd jobs, he became a union carpenter. However, he was part of the mass layoffs in the 1980s and went to work for Mercy Center in Aurora in the Maintenance Department as a carpenter. In 1985, he left Mercy Center and joined Local 99, Operating Engineers where he worked for 31 years. He was sent to work at various locations. His last 10 years before retiring was as director of engineering at a Chicago hotel. He retired in 2016.
Shortly after getting out of the Marine Corp in 1977, Joe and Lori were married. They have two daughters and three granddaughters. They live in Oswego.
Joe has been an active participant in both community civilian and veteran affairs. He is vice commander of the Fox Valley Marine Corp League; commander of American Legion Post 675 Oswego; and a delegate for the Kendall County Veterans Assistance Commission. He served as a trustee with the Oswego Village, 2014 to 2018; and this week ran for Oswego Township Supervisor.