By Sara Kunz
Ralph Rodriguez dreamed of being an ambassador to Central America after graduating from college, but his plans were crushed when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in February of 1941. Rodriguez had been working at New Mexico Timber Co. for three years when he was called to war.
By Alicia Dietrich
When New Mexico native Joseph Rodriguez set sail from New York harbor bound for Europe to fight in World War II, he had no idea where he was headed. He only knew they were traveling east.
"We didn't know nada," said Rodriguez, laughing. "When I got on, I went straight to the back of the ship and saw the Statue of Liberty, and I waved at her."
By J. Myers Vasquez
As acting squad leader and a combat veteran during World War II, Emilio G. Rodriguez was charged with the responsibility of indoctrinating new soldiers coming to the front lines.
"The enemy is in front of us," Rodriguez told his men on the eve of the invasion of Okinawa. "The only thing I can tell you is that you have to take cover and concealment as much as you can so you can go home."
By Donetta Nagle
Estanislado "Stanley" Reyna braved enemy fire in the Philippines in a daring attempt to save the life of his sergeant in 1945.
"His arm had been blown off, and his left side was shot," Reyna said.
After repeated tries, the young soldier finally succeeded in summoning medics to the sergeant's side, and assisted emergency personnel in transferring the sergeant onto a stretcher. Despite their efforts, the sergeant succumbed to his injuries and later died. Reyna says he still thinks often of his fallen comrade.
By Antonio Gilb
Many of Robert Ramón's wartime memories have faded in the last few decades: Stories of his days in postwar Japan have lost their clarity, and memories of his "nightmare" in the Philippines have dulled in their ability to haunt.
The war, Ramón says, was a couple of lifetimes ago.
By Cheryl Smith
Much like the proverbial elder who trudged long distances to school in the snow, wind and rain, Manuel Provencio trekked a couple of miles a day from school to his uncle Juan Galceran's shoe repair shop, where he pulled in a whopping 10 cents a day.
"They got an easy life now. ... Now they don't drive, they don't go to work," the still-fit 77-year-old said.
By Gina Ross
World War II gave Xavier Pelaez many gruesome experiences -- from witnessing the horror of a concentration camp to the pain of being wounded in battle.
Pelaez was born in Los Angeles in 1925, his parents having moved from Nogales, Mexico, before he was born. His mother, Graciela Preciado, was a homemaker and his namesake father did various jobs wherever he could find work.
Pelaez graduated from Fremont High School in 1943, but knew his immediate future was with the service.
By Matt Harlan
The life of Ernesto Padilla is one marked with opportunities masked by tragedy.
Padilla’s childhood was spent with his large family in Puerto de Luna, N.M. The town, nestled on the Pecos River, was a community inhabited primarily by Latino ranchers and farmers.
"My dad had a general store and a cattle ranch, so for my age, I was pretty well enrolled in the activities that constitute farming and cattle ranching," Padilla said.
Farming, however, was unable to offer all he wanted in life.
By Guillermo X. Garcia
José Navarro, a 20-year-old farm boy with a limited education from segregated South Texas schools, went to war in 1942 to better himself.
By the time of his discharge, due to injury as a member of the U.S. Army's 99th Infantry Division, Navarro had fought in two of the most decisive Allied victories in Europe: the Allied invasion of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge.
After the successful Normandy invasion, the Allies drove through the French countryside, engaging the Germans in major battles at Lieges and St.-Lo.
By Kristina Radke
Before World War II, Jesse Nava led a simple life in California, swimming in the Los Angeles River and gaining a strong work ethic from his immigrant father. But since the war, that carefree life has been elusive.
To help his father support the family, Nava was forced at age 17 to drop out of the predominantly Latino Roosevelt High School, where he was successful in breaking track and field records. In addition to his parents, Nava's family consisted of two brothers and two sisters.
