True war stories from Newport’s Muniz

Former Newport Harbor High football player Joe Muniz shared the

worldly view spoken by Mayor Itcho Ito of Nagasaki, Japan, relative

to the atomic bombing of the city Aug. 9, 1945, by a U.S. B-29 bomber

that marked the grim end of World War II. About 70,000 residents

died.

Hiroshima, Japan suffered a greater loss in the first atomic

bombing earlier that week.

Mayor Ito said the 58th anniversary prompted him to stress that

the world’s nuclear powers had dealt dangerous setbacks to

arms-control efforts.

Muniz, who observed the aftermath of the bombing days later

clearly saw the massive impact. He is in total accord that

arms-control efforts are vital to world peace and harmony. The former

gridder feels the U.S. has made some serious responsible efforts to

help others take actions to control arms.

Prior to Nagasaki, his older brother, Manuel, a ’42 CIF selection

for the Harbor High football championship team, was wounded on the

nearby island of Okinawa and earned the Purple Heart.

Family and friends have asked Joe Muniz now and then if he ever

planned a return visit to Nagasaki.

“I would have considered many years ago,” he said. “But now I feel

the whole area has built up and changed dramatically.”

Muniz said he first cruised by Nagasaki down a river helping

Marines aboard a landing barge aim for an inland location for

occupation duties.

“My navy buddies and I later went up the river in a small navy

boat and we could see the devastation,” Muniz said. “It was strange

to see friendly Japanese on the shoreline waving to us happily. I

presume they were showing their pleasure to see that war was over.

They had been at war for a long time, long before WWII.”

Muniz said he and his mates had initial concerns and feared sniper

attacks, “like those we have heard about in Iraq. But that did not

happen in Nagasaki.”

“Looking back,” he said. “I never knew about Manuel’s injury until

after the war, when I returned home. Then I learned that he had

already left to enroll at Arizona State University.”

Due to the draft in WWII, a male could be drafted after he passed

18. Hence, Muniz and ’44 gridmate Dick Freeman had to leave two weeks

before the grid season ended. Freeman was sidetracked for medical

attention while Muniz was hurried on to naval training camp, then

shipped overseas to the South Pacific.

Muniz, the father of three children, recalls his prep days

sparring with athletic director Ralph Reed in the upstairs gym.

“Reedy and I were really good buddies, Muniz said. “He liked to

put on the gloves and have me go a few rounds with him. Reedy was

quite a boxer.”

Muniz remembers that his brother, Manuel, and the legendary

fullback Harold Sheflin were powerhouses in boxing and that Reed

would never allow the two big men to ever collide during sports

seasons. Reed was concerned for their safety in a wide-open match.

Joe Muniz grew up with another love: riding and caring for horses.

He recalled from his teenage days a top favorite named, “Tiny.”

With great amusement, he recalled how he invited younger brother

Al to ride Tiny if he wished. In time, Al made it clear with the

horse and subsequently came to calling the horse, “Killer,” not Tiny.

Muniz, 77, still maintains a hobby of raising and racing horses,

both quarter horses and thoroughbreds. But, “Chicks Beduno,” which

means unruly man in English, was retired after a leg injury and now

stands as a stallion in Hemet.

“I was sky high about that horse,” Joe Muniz said. “He won a lot

of races and earned a half-million dollars. There were so many

write-ups. He raced as a two-year-old and a three-year-old.”