Army

By Juan De La Cruz

En route to Africa on a ship with more than 5,000 soldiers, Octavio Negrón knew he needed to leave home, even if it meant going off to fight.

By Kelly Tarleton

The thought of failure has never deterred Leopold Rodriguez Moreno from his goals.

Moreno says he was the first Mexican American to be sent to West Virginia as an inspector for the Southern Pacific Railroad Co.

He met Rosa Villagomez, the woman of his dreams, and decided he’d marry her. Six years later, he did.

But Moreno says one of his most important accomplishments is having survived a gunshot wound in the back during the Battle of Luzon in World War II.

By Kaz Edwards

Benito Morales sits perfectly still on his couch, adjusting only his hands, which lie neatly folded in his lap. Arranged next to him are various pieces of memorabilia from World War II, including a Bronze Star he received for heroic achievement in action.

But Morales doesn’t look at himself as a hero, merely one of the lucky few who made it through WWII alive and unscathed.

By Gilbert Song

Born March 15, 1926, Maclovio Montoya experienced the Great Depression and military duty in World War II. Then it was off to the Pacific for the Korean War. However, it was in his golden years when he fought his greatest struggle -- trying for decades to receive the Purple Heart for being wounded in WWII.

Montoya has a quiet and husky voice; his demeanor is gentle. He wears a purple veteran's hat covered with military pins, ribbons and badges, accompanied by a matching purple silk bomber jacket.

By Ignacio Laguarda

It was New Year's Eve in 1944 when Soldier First Class Juan Meza discovered Germans had occupied an abandoned college in France -- the same building where he and five other soldiers were resting.

"We were directing the artillery to shoot where we knew they were giving us more battles," Meza said.

He and the other soldiers were there for a week, five or 10 kilometers in front of battle, serving as observers.

By Naomi Price

Joe Borunda Medina was fresh out of Wiley High School in Wiley, Colo., when he was inducted into the Army in June of 1943.

Initially drafted, Borunda says he received a notice several weeks later that he was no longer needed. He decided to join anyway, however, and was sent to Denver for basic training, then to Utah for additional training and testing.

By Kimberly Wied

Elsie Martinez saw a lot of World War II, but she never left the country and can't talk about it.

"The things we saw, and the people that came back, it was horrible," said Martinez, recalling her work in a high-security photo lab that processed aerial photos taken by Army reconnaissance.

By Angela Macias

Augustinee Martinez knew little about being a solider when his 65th Infantry Division reached La Havre, France.

Though Martinez trained at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, and then in France for more than a month before hitting the front lines in March of 1945, he wasn't prepared for the intense battle his division entered.

"Two, three days [in combat], you learn everything," Martinez said.

By Tara Wilcox-G.

Alberto Marquez remembers an autumn day in Houston in 1942 when he and a friend went out for hot dogs and, by the time they returned home, they’d decided to volunteer to fight in World War II.

While walking to lunch that day, the young men had spotted the now-famous promotion advertisement of Uncle Sam pointing his finger, saying "I WANT YOU." The two friends began to joke and argue about which one of them Uncle Sam really wanted.

By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons

When David Loredo was shot in the stomach in the hills of the Philippines during World War II, his first thought was he’d never see his mother again.

"I remember standing there in a daze," Loredo said. "I felt like I had gotten hit with a huge rock. I was scared I was going to die."