World War II

By Israel Saenz

After joining the Army during World War II, New Mexico native Albert Angel began fretting he’d spend the entire war fixing airplanes stateside, so he found his supervisor and confronted him:

"You're wasting your time and mine too," Angel remembered saying. "I wanna go overseas."

Angel, now 81, served in the European Theater from 1943 to 1945 as a teletype worker with the 784th B-24 Bomber Squadron, part of the 466th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force. He was stationed near Norwich, England, at Attle Bridge Air Base from March of 1944 to July of 1945.

By Kristen Clark

Homero Alvarado is a true American hero.

By Kathryn Wilson

A pile of manure saved the life of Benjamin Alvarado during World War II in 1944.

A private in Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army, he served in the 317th Infantry Regiment of the 80th Infantry Division. Alvarado and three other soldiers were positioned as outposts in St. Genevieve, France. The four soldiers were in a small farmhouse when they saw German forces approaching.

By Xochitl Salazar

Juan Ramon Alires was already the father of two children, with another baby on the way, when he went to war as part of the 11th Armored Division.

Alires was drafted into the Army and assigned to the 11th Armored Division, known as the Thunderbolt Division, in 1944 at the age of 25. He was the second in his family to serve in WWII; Maximinio, his older brother, served four years.

By Rajesh Reddy

In the spring of 1945, 16-year-old Rodolfo “Rudy” Alaniz's older brother Ricardo, a rifleman with the 8th Infantry Division, was killed in Germany, an event that would alter young Alaniz’s life.

"I presented my brother's flag to my mother," said Alaniz, about Ricardo's burial. "That was the saddest part of my life."

By Yvonne Lim

Gloria Araguz Alaniz began her role as the family caregiver when her mother passed away, leaving 15-year-old Alaniz to care for her father and eight siblings.

As her mother, Anita Flores Araguz, lay dying from an aneurysm, she asked her teenage daughter to make sure her sickly baby brother, 5-month-old Arturo, get baptized right away.

It was understood that as the oldest girl, young Alaniz would be responsible for her family's care. A cousin stepped in to make arrangements for the baby's baptism and the child was baptized after Anita died June 10, 1942.

By Yolanda Urrabazo

Julia Rodriguez Aguillon first knew tragedy when she was 10 years old, when her father passed away due to cirrhosis of the liver. Later, as an adult, she’d feel a deeper sorrow when she had a stillborn baby and, much later, when a daughter and granddaughter died. But through it all, she held on to a strong belief in God.

"To me, the loss of a child is the most hard ... but God will never give you anything more than you can bear," Aguillon said. "So I had faith and we pulled through."

By Joel Weickgenant

Salvador Aguilar remembers lonesome nights aboard the cargo ship he served on during World War II. On many nights, he and fellow sailors and troops were forced to lie in the dark, ordered not make any sounds. It was frustrating -- the trips across the Pacific were long and the troops were often prohibited from engaging in conversations that could be picked up by Japanese submarines swimming the waters like sharks.

By Melanie Kudzia

Hector Acedo was 19 and World War II had been in full swing for three years when an older friend who’d already been drafted said: "Let's join the Navy."

Acedo’s response: "Sure, well let's go."

After getting sworn in, the two friends were told to be at the bus station at midnight, where they’d leave for boot camp in San Diego, Calif. So began their naval experiences.

By Stephanie Babb

Strong family ties and a good work ethic made the difficulties of World War II a learning experience, Alejandra Rojas Zuniga said.

"It was rough for us attending school in Texas because discrimination was bad there," Zuniga said. "I remember trying to get along with all the kids in the classroom, but they looked at us like we didn't belong there."

Zuniga remembers the teacher would at times ask the class to come together for a drawing assignment, and Zuniga would sit next to a little Anglo girl.