By Liliana Velázquez
Leon Eguia has kept silent for many years, never inclined to share his feelings about World War II with anyone, not even his family.
"I saw a lot of things," said Eguia, who opened up during a recent interview. "So I put a wall between me and my feelings. Otherwise, I would become crazy."
By Veronica Olvera
Amid the horror of war in the European Theater, Benigno Diaz found himself in awe of the deadly efficiency of enemy forces, struck by "how accurate the German aviators were," he said.
Diaz served as a scout during World War II when he was just a teenager. He enlisted just shy of his 18th birthday and left his Los Angeles home for the frontlines of the war in Europe. While he managed to stay alive, he witnessed the fate of comrades who weren't as fortunate.
By Anna Wong
Evident in his service to the United States, Teodoro De La Rosa is a man who’s proud and loyal to his country.
De La Rosa was born in the humble surroundings of Pharr, Texas. His father, Gregorio De La Rosa, was a migrant farm worker; his mother, Beatriz Cavazoz De La Rosa, a housewife. They didn't own any property, but as long as they worked at the farm, the family had a place to stay, De La Rosa said.
By Liliana Velazquez
Lying on the deck of the USS Tripoli on a quiet night on the Pacific Ocean, Luis Reyes Davila felt at peace in a time of war. During this brief respite from battle, with the soothing waves splashing against the aircraft carrier and the twinkling stars above, he thought of the peaceful life back in El Paso, Texas, that he left behind to serve his country.
"I used to think about home, how things would be back home," Davila said.
By Emily Priest
On June 6, 1944, Herman R. Cortez and his fellow soldiers scurried down side ladders onto landing crafts alongside a U.S. military ship as it dropped anchor on the coast of France, placing the men as close to shore as possible. As soon as the plank dropped, the soldiers jumped out and began making their way up Omaha Beach amid a shower of artillery shells from German soldiers.
By Sarah Jackson
Drafted at 21, Frank Cordero endured hardships typical of most soldiers. But in telling his story, he prefers to dwell on the lighter side of war.
Born in 1921 in Alamogordo, N.M., Cordero was the youngest of five children born to Felix Cordero and Benjardina Gonzales Cordero. He joined the U.S. Army in 1942 and was sent to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, before being shipped out to Camp Gruber near Muskogee, Okla., for basic training. The "final exam" of the yearlong training was three months of maneuvers in the Louisiana swamps.
By Anna Zukowski
An award-winning sharpshooter, Valentino "Smokey" Cervantes dodged death as a member of the 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion.
On an M-1 Tracked Recovery Vehicle, Cervantes would pick up disabled half tracks after each battle. With a promotion to technician 5th class, he went on to see dogfights in which British fighter planes were shot down, "buzz bombs" flying toward England and damaged American bombers plummeting to earth. Once, a bomb even fell 20 yards away from Cervantes' vehicle, while his company was crossing the Roar River in Germany.
By Erin Neck
Alfred Castro wears a cap that bears his medals on the outside but holds his memories of the war inside.
Now 80 years old, Castro vividly remembers the details of his life before, during and after the war and the men with whom he served in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.
Born in LaVerne, Calif., on Jan. 27, 1922, Castro describes a simpler life than most children know today, living among orange orchards, going to school and playing baseball to stay out of trouble.
By Celina Moreno
World War II veteran Epigmenio Caraveo valiantly served his country as a paratrooper in the legendary 101st Airborne Division, overcoming the sting of discrimination and poverty of his youth.
As a young boy growing up in the West Texas town of Van Horn -- near his birthplace of Candelaria -- Caraveo labored for a few nickels a day, chopping cotton at a nearby farm. At age 11, he lived "a cowboy life," branding cattle and greasing the windmills for a ranch in Van Horn, 120 miles from El Paso.
By Betsy Clickman
Antonio Campos has devoted his life to fighting for the advancement of Latinos, engaging in civil rights work that has given Hispanics in South Texas a "head start."
As a child, having to share a bed with siblings or use a community bathroom facility wasn’t out of the ordinary for Campos, who grew up poor in segregated Baytown, Texas. His home was literally across the railroad tracks from the Anglos, a division that would fuel Campos' pursuit of equality throughout his life.
