Avenue of Heroes: Joseph T. Talbert, Jr.

Prepared by: Emily Talbert (wife) & Jay and Steve Talbert (sons)

Joe was a Coronadan through and through. His parents lived in Coronado when he was born in 1932. His father’s naval career took the family to Washington, D.C., Panama, and France, but somehow, they always returned to Coronado. Joe graduated from Coronado High School in the class of 1950 and was a proud member of the Class of 1956 U.S. Naval Academy.

The submarine service was Joe’s favorite part of his 26-year naval career, serving on a total of seven submarines: The USS Redfish, USS Salmon, USS Carbonero, USS Theodore Roosevelt, USS Ulysses S. Grant, and in Command of the USS Razorback in San Diego. At the conclusion of this tour, his “boat” was decommissioned and turned over to the Turkish Navy. The USS Razorback, arguably the longest serving combat front-line submarine still existing in the world, having been in service for 56 years in two different countries, is now a museum ship at the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Other Navy assignments included service on the destroyer, USS Floyd B. Parks, Inertial Navigation instruction at DamNeck, Virginia, Air Force Command and Staff College, National War College, 7th Fleet Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, OPNAV, and as a Political-Military Strategic Planner in the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Joe met his wife of 50 years, Emily Haugen, in New London, Connecticut and they were married in 1962. Their three sons all graduated from Coronado High School.

Returning to Coronado in 1979, he began a 25-year second career with several civilian companies supporting the Navy, in addition to acting as a technical advisor on the book, “The Encyclopedia of Submarines.”

Joe contributed much time and energy to his beloved town, serving on the Citizens Advisory Panel and the Coronado Planning Commission. He was an early supporter and chair of Coronado’s annual Motorcars on MainStreet and served as chairman of the Coronado Centennial Celebration Committee in 1986.

His hobby of building ship models began early and flourished in retirement. One could usually find Joe in his garage, also known as the “Shipyard,” building Navy ship models for family and friends.

The Avenue of Heroes military service recognition program is sponsored by the City of Coronado. Introduced in 2014, the program has honored 261 hometown heroes to date. On May 18, 2024, another 16 were honored. City staff and volunteers from the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2422, the Coronado Historical Association and Third and Fourth Streets Neighborhood Association oversee its operation.

In 2011, the program was inspired spontaneously with the movement of two Navy SEALs to their final resting place. News spread quickly and the local Rotary Club passed out American flags. People lined Fourth Street to honor the fallen service members. As the procession approached the Coronado Bridge, a lone Navy SEAL stood at attention, saluting as he waited for the passage of his comrades. That moment made clear that Third and Fourth streets were already an Avenue of Heroes.

That spontaneous beginning launched the program in May 2015 with 18 banners. The Avenue of Heroes is a reminder that Coronado has a rich history and legacy of service to the country.