Description:
Joseph D. Iturriaga was born in the Bronx, New York in 1983. He grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey and in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Navy in 2004. He went to boot camp at Great Lakes and became a boatswain's mate. He was stationed in a Seabee unit at Virginia Beach, during which time he deployed to Africa, Croatia and Haiti. His unit aided in the response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Later, he was stationed at the U.S. Naval Academy. Motivated by the struggles faced by veterans and military families, he decided to pursue a career in social work with a focus on veterans. After getting out of the Navy in 2012, he went to college on the GI Bill, earning his bachelor's degree at the University of Maryland and Master of Social Work at the University of Southern California. He worked at Community Hope, a nonprofit serving homeless veterans, followed by a nursing home. He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in New Brunswick. After the interview was conducted, he began working in the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Rutgers Oral History Archives received an operating support grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State. In the 2021-2022 cycle, this grant assisted the ROHA staff in making this oral history available to you for your use.