President Trump has signed into law a bill renaming a post office in Poway in honor of America’s oldest veteran of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
H.R. 3005 designates the facility at 13308 Midland Road in downtown Poway as the Ray Chavez Post Office Building.
Chavez joined the Navy in 1938 and was aboard the minesweeper USS Condor when it reported sightings of a Japanese submarine before the attack on Dec. 7, 1941.
He has been honored myriad times over the years for his service during the war. In 2016, he participated in a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor in Oahu.
In 2018, just months before his death, he met Trump during a Memorial Day celebration at the White House. Chavez died in November of that year and was buried at Miramar National Cemetery
Following Chavez’ death, Rep. Scott Peters introduced the bill to rename the post office in honor of the longtime Poway resident.
The new name for the Poway office was one of 19 name changes of federal buildings signed into law on Monday.