When young Herman Cardoza was assigned to guard a B-29 bomber on Tinian Island in the waning days of World War II, he knew nothing of its mission. Or its place in history.

WW II veteran Herman Cardoza receives the Bronze Star and the Army of Occupation Medal from U.S. Rep. Susan Davis. Photo by Chris Stone
WW II veteran Herman Cardoza receives the Bronze Star and the Army of Occupation Medal from U.S. Rep. Susan Davis. Photo by Chris Stone

On Aug. 6, 1945, the plane he protected — the Enola Gay — dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

On Wednesday, Cardoza recalled how he was delighted to learn its role in bringing an end to the war.

Seventy years and several months after VJ Day, the 92-year-old veteran from Spring Valley received the Bronze Star and the Army of Occupation Medal with Japan Clasp at the San Diego Veterans Day Parade with the help of U.S. Rep. Susan Davis.

“I feel delighted,” Cardoza said before the parade’s start on Harbor Boulevard. “It’s a sense of acknowledgment…. It’s important to me now.”

Cardoza expressed pride in his old Army unit, the 147th Infantry, which saw action in Iwo Jima. He called the 147th an “orphaned regimen” and the “Gypsies of the Pacific.”

“Infantrymen were considered the roughest branch,” he said. “We lived in foxholes and everyone earned the combat infantry badge.”

That infantry badge also entitled him to a Bronze Star, but that “slipped my mind” for years, he said.

Recently he read an article about Bronze Stars and contacted Davis’ office to see if he could still get it. Davis made the arrangements.

Brig. Gen. Kurt Harden gives WWI veteran Henry Cardoza his citation for the Bronze Star and the Army of Occupation medal with Japan Clasp. Photo by Chris Stone
Brig. Gen. Kurt Harden gives WWI veteran Henry Cardoza his citation for the Bronze Star and the Army of Occupation medal with Japan Clasp. Photo by Chris Stone

The 53rd District congresswoman said, “It’s absolutely amazing.”

Brig. Gen. Kurt Hardin said honoring Cardoza was “very special for me, especially giving a Bronze Star to someone who served at Iwo Jima.

“It’s incredible. He has been through so much.”

Indeed several months before guarding the Enola Gay, he was awakened “by a click and a thud, which told me someone just tossed a grenade.”

Fortunately, it was a dud.

He explained that the Japanese stored ammunitions in caves and moisture there could disarm the explosives.

Born in 1923, Cardoza was eager to join the military after Pearl Harbor, but was too young to enlist. Enlistment age then was 19.

At 17, he entered training at Brown Military Academy in Pacific Beach and graduated in 1941.

In 1942 the War Department lowered the enlistment age to 19, and Cardoza entered the Army as a second lieutenant.

After serving two stints in the Army, Cardoza went on to study physics and math at SDSU and then did research at Stanford University and UCLA.

He went on to work as a physicist in electromagnetism in the Visibility Laboratory of the University of California for 12 years.

Cardoza and his wife, Jane, have been married 72 years.

“I’m very proud of him,” Jane said. “He is a wonderful husband.”

Now their goal is to make it to their 75th wedding anniversary.

Davis, who visited Normandy for the World War II remembrance in May, said it’s important for veterans to talk about their military experiences.

Many veterans, like her father, returned from that war and never talked about it, she said. “We need to help our loved ones by giving them a prompt to talk about it.”

U.S. Rep. Susan Davis speaks with Herman Leonard Cardoza and his wife, Jane, just before he receives his Bronze Star medal. Photo by Chris Stone
Herman Cardoza and his wife watch the Veterans Day parade downtown. Photo by Chris Stone
WWII veteran Herman Cardoza and Brig. Gen. Kurt Hardin salute as a military unit passes in the parade. Photo by Chris Stone
Brig. Gen. Kurt Harden gives WWI veteran Henry Cardoza his citation for the Bronze Star and the Army of Occupation medal with Japan Clasp. Photo by Chris Stone
WW II veteran Herman Cardoza receives the Bronze Star and the Army of Occupation Medal from U.S. Rep. Susan Davis. Photo by Chris Stone
A group displays a thank you sign for veterans in the parade. Photo by Chris Stone
Children wave flags as the Veterans Day Parade passes by. Photo by Chris Stone
Bill Hay, a volunteer from the carrier Midway, rides with their float. Photo by Chris Stone
A grandfather, who is a veteran, shares the parade with his grandson. Photo by Chris Stone
Children dressed in Captain America costumes watch the Veterans Day Parade. Photo by Chris Stone
A member of the National Montford Point Marine Association shows his medal for courage. Photo by Chris Stone
Former prisoners of war were honored at the parade. Photo by Chris Stone
A Vietnam War veteran distributes candy to children along the parade route. Photo by Chris Stone
Pearl Harbor veteran Stuart Hedley is applauded by the crowd. Photo by Chris Stone
A color guard member from Morse High School performs in the parade. Photo by Chris Stone
A little one gets a free ride during the Veterans Day Parade downtown. Photo by Chris Stone
A young girl waves her flag for veterans in the parade. Photo by Chris Stone
Disabled veterans take part in the San Diego Veterans Day Parade. Photo by Chris Stone
A woman in the Korean veterans unit holds up shoes lost by a marcher in an earlier unit. Photo by Chris Stone
Scouts protect their ears as the truck they are riding on honks its horn. Photo by Chris Stone
Esmeralda and Brooklynn wave flags for veterans in the parade downtown. Photo by Chris Stone
Soldiers re-enact the famous scene from the battle at Iwo Jima. Photo by Chris Stone
Veteran W.A.V.E.S. solicit waves from parade-goers. Photo by Chris Stone
A female Young Marine shouts out cadence for other young marchers. Photo by Chris Stone
Beau Hatch, 4, lets out a yawn as he salutes the military. Beau waits for his father in the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Detachment San Diego. Photo by Chris Stone
World War II Navy veteran Mabel Stenstrom, 98, was the grand marshal of the Veterans Day Parade. Photo by Chris Stone
A young girl carrying a rifle accompanies a member of the Jewish War Veterans. Photo by Chris Stone
A Marine veteran greets spectators along the parade route. Photo by Chris Stone
Scouts honor the military, carrying photos of veterans in the San Diego Veterans Day Parade. Photo by Chris Stone
Beau Hatch, 4, salutes Navy personnel as they march by in the San Diego Veterans Day Parade. Photo by Chris Stone
An officer calls out cadence to sailors in the Veterans Day parade. Photo by Chris Stone
Julianna Pro, 10, shows her support of the Marine Corps. Photo by Chris Stone
Wounded veterans took part in the Veterans Day parade. Photo by Chris Stone