Onesimo Mendes Obituary (1919 - 2015)

Onesimo Mendes Obituary: Thirty-four year Cameron Park, CA resident with wife Leona Mae Mendes (1921-2015) passed in Placerville, CA September 6, 2015 her passing fifty-seven days later. A Kings County, CA native, second adult child of Manuel de Sousa Mendes (1884-1968) & Jesunia de Couto Vaz (1892-1972), 1938 Lemoore, CA High School graduate, Onesimo married his teenage sweetheart Leona, also a Kings County native he'd known since 1935, on February 22, 1941 in Bellflower, CA. A Carpentry Apprentice in 1938 Onesimo was Machinist Apprentice & Journeyman for Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division in San Pedro, CA prior and into WWII till drafted into the U.S. Navy in 1943. Serving 13 continuous months aboard the Cruiser Division 9 Flagship U.S.S. HONOLULU CL-48 he saw combat action in five Pacific Theatre campaigns, including the Philippines Invasion when God spared him certain death after a Japanese aerial torpedo hit the ship on October 20, 1944 killing over 60 sailors where he'd been stationed less than 5 minutes before. Stationed stateside till early 1945 he'd ended the war on Saipan Island not far from where the Boeing B-29 "Enola Gay" and "Bockscar" bombers took off to atomic bomb Hiroshima & Nagasaki on August 6th & 9th.