Joseph Portillo

Joseph I. Portillo was a member of the Fall Class of 1941, at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco.

        He was born September 15, 1923, in San Salvador. His mother Rose (Molina) Portillo. was noted in the 1940 San Francisco City Directory. Then, in 1942 she was listed with her second husband, Charles F. Antrim, at 1251 46th Avenue.

        The 1942 San Francisco City Directory listed Joseph L. Portillo as a deliveryman and living at 1251 46th Avenue. There was no entry for 1943. However, he was listed again in 1944 at the same address as being in the United States Army. There were no entries prior to 1942 or after 1944 for a Joseph L. Portillo in a San Francisco City Directory.

        Rose (Molina) Portillo Antrim was born on December 29, 1895, and died in San Francisco on May 22, 1990. Charles F. Antrim was born in Louisiana on October 11, 1897, and died on September 18, in San Francisco.

        The 1942 San Francisco City Directory listed Joseph L. Portillo as a deliveryman and also living at 1251 46th Avenue. There was no entry of his name for 1943. However, he was listed again in 1944 at the same address as being in the United States Army. There were no entries prior to 1942 or after 1944 for a Josepoh I. Portillo in a San Francisco Directory.

        Joseph was a graduate in Abraham Lincoln's First Commencement Class on January 29, 1942. He entered military service after graduation with the United States Army.

        He was assigned to the 7th Infantry Division after basic training. Joe was with the division in the Pacific Theater of Operations on Leyte in the Philippine Islands, as a member of the 184th Infantry Regiment.

        Joseph was wounded in the operation to liberate Leyte Island from the Japanese. He was thus awarded the Purple Heart Medal. He died of these wounds on October 21, 1944, and was interred on Leyte in the United States Army Air Force Cemetery No. 1.

        He is listed in the World War II Honor List of Dead & Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel from California as a private first class and killed in action.

        His remains were disinterred in 1948 and returned to the United States and reinterred in the Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, San Mateo County, California, in Section B, Grave #477.