World War II

By David R Zavala

On his initial night of fighting in World War II Europe, Domingo Cantu landed for his first mission, and was unable to free himself from his parachute. As he struggled and tugged to get the chute off, he heard the blasts of enemy fire.

Cantu didn’t panic. He grabbed his knife and cut the chute off. It was in this first battle that Cantu knew he was in for a difficult time and that the war would change his life. His service to his country continued many years after the war was over.

By Michael Taylor

According to Joe Arambula, a veteran of some World War II's most intense battles in the European Theater, there is such a thing as being too careful in war. Seeing men killed for being too cautious made Arambula decide he'd rely on the powers that be.

Though he lost two brothers and his unit was hit hard during the fighting, the prospect of not returning from the war never crossed Arambula's mind.

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.