In Our Words: José's Army Service Upon hearing of the bombing at Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, José attempted to enlist in the army. He had to eat a heavy lunch of milkshakes and bananas so he could pass the weight requirement for the physical exam. He was initially inducted into the “Enlisted Reserve”, but was instructed to complete his undergraduate education before reporting for duty. In April of 1943, José began active duty in the US Army Medical Corps. In April 1944, José traveled by boat to Bombay (Mumbai), India, then to Calcutta (Kolkata) by train, and finally by truck to Assam, near the China-Burma border. Much of his service was as a medic at the Twentieth General Hospital in Ledo, Burma, as part of the CBI (China, Burma, India) team. In addition to traditional war-related medical responsibilities (testing soldiers for disease, administering medical treatments), his duties also included collecting and studying several varieties of mosquitos. He treated soldiers and natives for malaria as well as other tropical diseases. Propaganda radio broadcasts from the enemy misled troops into believing that the treatment for malaria (atabrine) would cause impotence. At the time, more patients were dying from disease than warfare. José was charged with developing a test to verify that soldiers were taking their medication, developing effective mosquito repellents, and then determining where to spray the repellent to best protect the troops. As part of this research, José created exactingly detailed drawings of mosquitos. When the war ended, it took several months for the military to bring this large population of soldiers back to the US. During this time, José along with some friends started a project that they called Foxhole University. They offered and taught accredited high school courses (math, history, English, Spanish, and business skills) to the soldiers at no cost.