On April 25, 1945, at age 21, PFC Gonzales was killed in action in the Philippines while, in the face of enemy machine gun fire, digging out fellow soldiers who had been buried in a bomb explosion.

Gonzales, a Mexican-American, was a semi-skilled machine shop worker in Los Angeles when he joined the U.S. Army in San Pedro, California in March 1944.

[1] On April 25, 1945, Gonzales' company found itself engaged in combat against Japanese forces at Villa Verde Trail on Luzon island in the Philippines.

As enemy fire swept the area, making any movement extremely hazardous, a 500-pound bomb smashed into the company's perimeter, burying 5 men with its explosion.

Gonzales, without hesitation, seized an entrenching tool and under a hail of fire crawled 15 yards to his entombed comrades, where his commanding officer, who had also rushed forward, was beginning to dig the men out.

Undismayed, he set to work swiftly and surely with his hands and the entrenching tool while enemy sniper and machinegun bullets struck all about him.

Finally, he presented the Gold Star Lapel Button, which identifies the next of kin of members of the military who lost their lives while engaged in action.

Santiago sent e-mails to Congressman Howard Berman and telephoned every David Gonzales in the Los Angeles area without any luck.

[9] The event brought closure to over 60 years of searching for the relatives of David M. Gonzales on behalf of William W. Kouts.