103-year-old Wakulla veteran Joe Willliams
Joe Williams
By CHARITY TUMBLESON Reporter
Joe Williams is a 103-year-old veteran from World War II. Williams was born and raised in Wakulla County and was drafted into the U.S. Navy in 1944 and served aboard a destroyer. Williams was the oldest of three other brothers who all ended up getting drafted at different times.
He recalled being sent to basic training for 10 weeks. “Then we got to come back home on a leave. Then your family, your community, give you a good send-off because most likely going to see you no more in years. Sometimes we never see you no more because I know several people went back and got on that ship and were killed over there,” he says.
Williams recounts during his travels what it was like going from New York City to the Philippines.
“Considering how we live in the country you can imagine how it was. New York was noisy and you couldn’t sleep at night,” he says. “I stayed on the ship with the convoy and we might sail around and around for months. We had to protect those ships and cargo ships,” he says. Life on the ship for Williams was based on a routine.
They would get up early and start the day sometimes for Williams he was put on cook duty.
Williams was the cook’s helper on the ship, he did not enjoy it very much at the time. “Most of the time anytime you are a helper to somebody you had to move when they tell you to move. They would call me and I had to come to pour their coffee,” he says. Williams spent six months at a time sailing around the Pacific Ocean.
Williams was discharged in New Orleans in 1946. “Then I came on home and I haven’t left since,” he says.
Williams spends his time sitting on his front porch and spending time with his grandchildren. Having made it to the age of 103 Williams has some advice for young people, “The life that you live needs to be good. That midnight partying, especially that hard dope is no good. I’ve been tipsy two, three times my whole life. Be moderate in whatever you do,” he says.
99-YEAR-OLD WAKULLA VETERAN BONNIE STURCHIO
Bonnie and Gene Sturchio
By CHARITY TUMBLESON Reporter
Bonnie Sturchio was born in a small town called Algoma in Wisconsin 99 years ago. One Sunday afternoon when she and her family were on a drive they passed a sign on the road seeking people to join the U.S. Marine Corps “and I did,” she says. Upon joining the Marines, Sturchio was sent off to boot camp riding the bus and picking up other people on the way. This was during World War II.
She worked in the post office. “Even though it was a mundane job, I liked the comradery of everybody, it was very nice,” she says. “While the boys were shipped out, we girls took their place.”
Sturchio was in the Marine Corps for nearly two years before meeting her husband, Gene Sturchio, who was a First Lieutenant. “It was love at first sight,” she says. Sturchio and her husband Gene would see each other at night on the beach at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina whenever they could. They were soon married. “I guess we just thought we would lose each other so were quick to marry,” she says.
Two months after Sturchio was pregnant with her first child, Chip. Due to her pregnancy Sturchio had to get out of the service but stayed in until it was time for her to give birth, then was discharged. Sturchio then went back to her hometown in Algoma. “I thoroughly enjoyed it, I wish I could of been in longer,” she says.
Her husband Gene was sent to Guam during his time in service and also served in the Korean War. “He was able to come back a couple of days before my first son was born,” she says. Gene came back from Guam with ulcers, which ultimetly led to his discharge. He served for four years in the military.
They then met up in Wisconsin and later on Gene decided to go to Rollins College in Winter Park to major in English, and went on to be a teacher and principal. They had four children together: Chip, Pat, Carmen, and Sharman. Now Sturchio resides in Sopchoppy, and was on the first Tallahassee Honor Flight in 2013, that flies veterans out to Washington, D.C. to see the monuments. “I was the only woman on the flight,” she says.
In her free time Sturchio relaxes in her Sopchoppy home and enjoys spending time with her children.