Please welcome today's Hero of the Match presented by Pirnia Law from the United States Army, Veteran Private First Class Joe Eskenazi!
He enlisted in the army as a young man and was at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.
During the attack on Pearl Harbor, he volunteered to drive a bulldozer across an open field to begin repairs on railroad lines that had been destroyed at wheeler field. As he did this, he was strafed by a Japanese zero aircraft and came within feet of being shot and killed. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he served four more years until the end of world war two. The motto of Pearl Harbor is “always remember Pearl Harbor”, and Joe would ask that we remember all the people who gave their lives for our freedom, especially his best buddy in the army, Lango, who was strafed and killed on December 7th, 1941. The world war two generation is called the greatest generation, but really, they are men of legend.
PFC Joe Eskenazi is the oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor at 105 years old. Tonight, he is joined by his grandson…lieutenant commander Mike Mastrangelo of the U.S. Navy.
The LA Galaxy thank Joe and his family for his service and dedication to our country and community.
