Lt. Avendano took part in Operation Tidal Wave, the raid on Ploesti on 1 August 1943, flying B-24 Liberator (serial number 41-24192) and received the Silver Star for the mission.



Avendano transferred to the 482nd Bomb Group in late 1943 after completing 30 missions. He undertook pathfinder flights providing radar leads for specific missions and in preparation of the invasion of Normandy. On 23 January 1944 on a radar test flight his aircraft was seen diving nose first before crashing.



Avendano's remains could not be separately identified from Harry S Parks and Carl H Jean whom he died with. All three men are buried together at Cambridge American Cemetery.



Was of Southwest Indian extraction and is mentioned as an Apache Indian with a call sign of "Geronimo" in newspaper articles in 1942. He graduated from Class 42-D at Victorville Advanced Flying School after having accumulated 38 hours of civilian pilot training.