By Darcie Stevens
As news of the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor came over the radio on Dec. 7, 1941, a 20-year-old Polly Muñoz Abarca started dreaming of places worlds away from her dorm room in Corpus Christi, Texas.
None of the students at Fred Roberts Nursing School had ever seen war.
"We were so innocent," Abarca said.
By Paul R. Zepeda and Maggie Rivas Rodriguez
Four stars hung in the front window of the house of 1608 Ave. L in Bay City, Texas, during WWII. Each represented a son of Guadalupe Zepeda, who fled from San Luis Potosí¬, Mexico, because he didn't want to take part in the Mexican Revolution, and Lina Rodriguez, who grew up in the area of San Marcos, Texas.
By Paul R. Zepeda and Maggie Rivas Rodriguez
Four stars hung in the front window of the house of 1608 Ave. L in Bay City, Texas, during WWII. Each represented a son of Guadalupe Zepeda, who fled from San Luis Potosí¬, Mexico, because he didn't want to take part in the Mexican Revolution, and Lina Rodriguez, who grew up in the area of San Marcos, Texas.
By Paul R. Zepeda and Maggie Rivas Rodriguez
Four stars hung in the front window of the house of 1608 Ave. L in Bay City, Texas, during WWII. Each represented a son of Guadalupe Zepeda, who fled from San Luis Potosí¬, Mexico, because he didn't want to take part in the Mexican Revolution, and Lina Rodriguez, who grew up in the area of San Marcos, Texas.
When Jose R. Zaragoza returned from World War II, he found an invigorated Los Angeles ripe with opportunities for younger generations of Latinos.
Zaragoza was born in Los Angeles, Calif. in 1920. His parents had emigrated with his two older brothers from Mexico to escape the violence of the Mexican Revolution. When he was 9, his family moved to the flatlands of Northern California right before the onset of the Great Depression. Although he did attend school in California for a short time, he quit to work in the fields.
By Erika Rodriguez
Francisco Venegas sits in the kitchen of his house in southeast Austin. That act alone makes him feel lucky.
By Miguel A. Castro
Lauro Vega distinctly remembers being in England and anxiously waiting to receive orders from the 197th AAA Battalion, the company he was in.
"They told us, 'All you fellows will be in an invasion but we don't know where or when,'" Vega said. "They knew but they didn't want to tell us."
On June 4, 1944, it would be a friend's reaction to a delicious meal that would convince Vega that the 197th AAA Battalion would finally be shipped out to be a part of an invasion.
By Miguel A. Castro
When it came to his safety, Salvador Valades knew he could always rely on his mother's prayers.
I really don't know what she prayed over us, but I know I felt blessed," Valades said.
As a young man, on the morning of March 13, 1945, he felt that her prayers saved his life. Valades' company, the 94th Infantry Division, was attempting to capture a concrete fortification in Germany located at the top of a hill. German forces defended their position with heavy fire.
By Ginny Snyder
Surrounded by news of the war in Europe, and with most of his friends already called to duty, Gabriel Valades enlisted in the Army in March of 1943 despite his parents’ concern. Even though his arrival came in the war's last days, Valades managed to witness the destruction and devastation of World War II firsthand.
"My memories of this trip," he said, "were of sadness and devastation." The people begged for food and cigarettes, elderly people and young children roamed the streets, and their homes and towns were virtually destroyed.
By Cody Morris
Joe Moreno Uriegas faced overwhelming enemy fire and unfamiliar surroundings on the front lines in Northern Europe during World War II.
A soldier in the 188th Field Artillery Battalion supporting the 82nd Airborne Division, Uriegas remained optimistic and strong-willed, however, summoning his beliefs as a devout Catholic to pull him through. Once back home, he’d again turn to his faith: this time to help establish a local veterans post to support and nurture Catholic veterans.
