By Cheryl Smith Kemp
When military recruiters showed up at the local Post Office in early August of 1942, Roberto De la Cruz saw it as a ticket out of the Rio Grande Valley, an escape from a lonely laborious life in South Texas.
So when a recruiter asked the 15-year-old how old he was, De la Cruz said he had just turned 18 on August 5.
A day or two later, De la Cruz and one other San Benito guy, Jerry Tarwater, were on a train headed for Houston, to get their Navy physicals.
By Hason Halpert
For Air Force Gunner Luis Garza, the worst thing that could have happened to him during World War II occurred before he even got overseas.
“While we were waiting [to go overseas], my mother got a notice that my brother [Pablo Garza] had been killed [in France],” Garza said. “I was playing ping pong, and my mom called and said my brother was missing. He was reported killed in action later that day.”
Rife with emotion, Garza asked for a leave of absence from his port of embarkation in Georgia.
By Jared Hill
Manuel Perez was one of the hundreds of thousands of Latino citizens forced by way of selective service to join the military after the United States joined World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. And just like many other Americans, Perez had to put his own life on hold to serve his country, even though he never stepped foot on the battlefield.
By Kathy Adams
As an immigrant from Juarez, Mexico, living in East Los Angeles in the ’20s and ’30s, Leno Flores Díaz remembers going to school in hand-me-downs and feeling ostracized when the teachers anglicized his name.
“They had all kinds of names. They never could pronounce my name. … It was discrimination, racism,” said Díaz, adding later in writing that whenever there was trouble at school, he was always called to the office as a suspect.
By E.J. Urbanczyk
Alfred Valenzuela was an 18-year-old sailor in 1943 when he found his older brother in Hawaii.
Valenzuela recalled looking for Claudio, eight years his senior, at Schofield Barracks, a United States installation.
“He [Claudio] was very surprised when he saw me: this 18-year-old kid, the youngest one of the family, in front of his barracks … asking for him,” Valenzuela recalled.
By Jessica Eaglin
Sara Valenzuela’s strong work ethic has remained a mainstay throughout her life.
On July 31, 1924, Sara Frances Garcia was born in the small town of Edna, Texas – the first child of eight – to Henry Andrew Garcia, a mechanic, and Mary Cisneros Garcia, a homemaker.
"I was the leader of my family," Valenzuela said. "I had to be the example in my family and my role was to help my mother."
She grew up during World War II, a point in United States history that significantly changed American life, particularly for women.
By Emily Cox
Florence Gonzales Gonzalez set a strong example for her siblings and coworkers throughout her life with her hard work and efforts toward perfection.
“I became a Mrs. how-you-do-it,” said Gonzalez, recalling how she took care of her siblings.
By Kathleen Bily
Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, Edward Frazer’s first teacher thought he was mentally disabled because he spoke only Spanish. But during his World War II service in the Philippines, that Spanish became one of his best assets.
“I found Spanish useful in all my jobs, for helping people and as a means of learning a livelihood,” Frazer said. “In the Army, I would even help soldiers write love letters.”
By Eunmi Christina Lee
One September night in 1942, Amos Pacheco and Gloria Robles both happened to be at Bergs Mill Platform, a San Antonio, Texas, dancehall with a music box and bar.
“I was dancing with this other girl and she said, ‘I’m too old for you; go dance with her.’ So I went up to her and she was a little girl, 14 years old with pigtails and with white socks,” recalled Pacheco of seeing his wife for the first time when he was 16 years old. “I didn’t know how to dance very well, but I asked her to dance and that’s where the trouble started.”
By Lizette Romero
Roberto Guerra had a deep pride: pride in his military service in World War II; of his unit, which distinguished itself in Europe; of the many medals he earned for his actions; and of the woman who saw beyond his injuries, took him as a husband and raised their six children.
