Army

By Wanda Lopez

At 80, Mike Silva reflects on his World War II service and how he was foolish to volunteer for a conflict that still moves him to tears decades later.

Silva was wounded during the war and saw many fellow soldiers die. He also cannot shake the memory of hungry children in the streets of Europe.

"I wanted to go because I was a dummy," he said, laughing at his own naïveté.

"When they asked who wanted to receive special training, I raised my hand. That's where they taught me how to save or kill other people."

By Therese Glenn

When Maria Sally Salazar illegally enlisted into the Army, she dreamed of traveling the world. She didn’t imagine, however, that her service would lead to six months in the hospital recovering from multiple illnesses and watching the end of World War II from bed.

"The war in '41 woke us up," Salazar said. "Everyone was talking about it. Everyone wanted to go."

By Christina Rucker

Born Feb. 28, 1925, World War II veteran Mac Salazar grew up the youngest of 13 children in Kansas City, Kan.. He calls himself and his siblings "Depression babies," but says they lived well, always having enough tortillas, frijoles and soup to get by.

It wasn't long before Salazar was heading to the classroom.

"I remember the first day of school. They took me and they left me in the kindergarten there," Salazar said. "I can remember who took me, who I saw and I can remember a girl there."

By Heather Cuthbertson

In 1944, Herman Saiz wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. He’d always tried to help his family, but without a father and clear path to follow, he enlisted to fight in the South Pacific during World War II.

Like many young men at the time, Saiz viewed the war effort as a duty and responsibility. It was something he had to do. The uncertainty with which he’d lived was gone. The only thing that mattered was to help win the war -- and survive.

By Alyssa Green

After dropping out of high school in 1940, Alfonso Rodriguez found himself doing what he considered menial jobs -- sweeping floors, working in a grocery store, hauling garbage and selling newspapers.

Rodriguez figured there had to be a better way to make a living, so he decided to join the Army, enlisting Dec. 31, 1940. It was peacetime then, and Rodriguez joined with the expectation he’d get to see the world.

A year later, however, Rodriguez was pulled directly into World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.

By Jennifer Nalewicki

Luis Angel Ramirez has many memories of World War II.

But his strongest recollection is the camaraderie soldiers shared in his platoon, which helped Ramirez stay grounded while battling German soldiers on the front lines.

Ramirez considered the men in his platoon, the 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, his family; especially since they were together from the time they began military training at Fort Dix in New Jersey and Fort Jackson in South Carolina in 1941 until the war's end in 1945.

By Jackie Montes

Calixto Rangel Ramirez's big fear about serving in World War II was being separated from his family. The soldier would go on to fight valiantly in the Battle of the Bulge, as well as be listed as missing for a few days, before finally returning to Texas’ Rio Grande Valley to live a as a prosperous storeowner.

"In war, you see all this suffering on both sides," Ramirez said. "You're hurt and you hurt others. After a while, you're wondering if you're going to make it to the next day. And then you get to a point where you don't care anymore.

By Melissa Drosjack

As an Army entertainer, Ernie Quiroga had a very special audience during World War II – people liberated from concentration camps.

"I entertained persons that were in concentration camps and I always wondered why they were always in a daze," Quiroga said. "You couldn't tell too much, because they were in a daze."

Quiroga recalls playing his accordion, trying to aid their recovery.

"I was playing my accordion and one number that I played was a typical Mexican song -- Besame Mucho," Quiroga said. "They were still in a daze."

Fortino S. Quintana's dream was to be a pilot for the Air Force. Quintana's dream was never realized, however, due to ear problems later attributed to a tumor.

Since he couldn't fly, he did the next best thing: repairing and maintained airplanes as a member of the 810th Air Division at Biggs Air Force Base in El Paso, Texas, a training center for B-17, B-24 and B-29 crews during World War II.

By Juan De La Cruz

Fernando Pagan was a jack of all trades during his childhood in Puerto Rico.

At the age of 12, Pagan shined shoes every Sunday in Carolina, Puerto Rico; on Saturdays, he sold clothes for a wage of $2 and breakfast. Later, he worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant.