By Dionicia Rivera
Lying in a cold stream with a bullet wound to his chest, Armando E. Gonzales felt his body getting weaker. Surrounded by the enemy in the Aleutian Islands, Gonzales had been shot by a sniper; he thought his life was over.
By Leslie McLain
When Pete A. Gallego returned from World War II after having helped changed the course of history, he found his hometown hadn’t undergone such dramatic transformation. Instead, the population in Alpine, Texas, had stabilized, a stagnant class system remained entrenched and the same urban ills of before were endemic.
By Cheryl Smith
Looking at the elderly man in the brown fedora and navy blue dress coat, preening his snowy mustache with a miniature comb from his shirt pocket, one would never suspect the turbulent road he has followed throughout his life.
Teodoro Franco was unaware of battles raging overseas before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He wasn't supposed to get drafted, he said, because he had a bad back; however, he entered the Army in 1942 without protest.
By Cari Hammerstrom
Ramon C. Flores was 64 years old when the Persian Gulf War began. Struck with pangs of patriotism, the World War II veteran promptly showed up at the recruitment office and tried to enlist, but was turned away because of his age.
"I can still handle a gun," Flores said. "I was tired of being a civilian."
By Deborah Bonn
During a brief trip home from the war in Japan, Moises Flores surprised a whole colony in Mexico that thought he’d been killed in combat.
Among those shocked by Flores' return was the sheriff in Chihuahua, Mexico’s Colonia Dublan, the town in which Flores was raised. Although he’d been born 200 miles across the border in Los Angeles, Flores was well known in the town where he spent his formative years. The lawman had heard of Flores' heroics abroad, and wanted to discover just how brave he really was.
By Kendra Mayer
Education is said to open the door to opportunity, and Felicitas Flores, who has led an exceptional life, all the while using education as her key to success, knows this well.
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 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.
