Joseph G. Moretti collection

Collection — Container: 00.0291 - Box 1

Identifier: 00.0291

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to Joseph G. Moretti who joined the U.S. Navy in Jacksonville, Florida in September 1942. He served in the Navy's Construction Battalion (Seabees) and the 8th Underwater Demolition Team (UDT8) until his discharge on August 14, 1945. He was stationed in Fort Peirce, Florida until he transferred to the Aleutian Islands and, later, the South Pacific. His collection includes an oral history recorded in 2000, Moretti's naval logbook, miscellaneous government documents from 1941 to 1957, news clippings from the 1990s, and photographs.

Dates

1941-2000
Other: Date acquired: 2000-03-20

Creator

Moretti, Joseph G., 1908-2006 (Creator, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical or Historical Information

Joseph G. Moretti was born in New York City on March 10, 1908 to Italian immigrants. The family later moved to upstate New York, which is where Moretti was raised. He worked as a carpenter and builder in Peekskill, New York until jobs dried up due to the Depression, causing him to move to Miami in 1934. He joined the Navy in 1942. He would have joined earlier, but was in the process of building a school and wanted to finish before his induction into the service. He trained in Fort Pierce, Florida before being sent to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. He served as a communications officer for his team. In December 1943, his unit moved to the South Pacific, to the Palau Islands. From Palau, the unit moved to Leyte, at which time he was promoted to chief warrant officer. The unit had another operation in Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines. During both these campaigns, the unit took a number of casualties, although few died. Next, the unit served on Iwo Jima after another unit got knocked out by a suicide plane. After the war, Moretti returned to his building career. He passed away on February 11, 2006.