Army

By Sarah Jackson

Drafted at 21, Frank Cordero endured hardships typical of most soldiers. But in telling his story, he prefers to dwell on the lighter side of war.

Born in 1921 in Alamogordo, N.M., Cordero was the youngest of five children born to Felix Cordero and Benjardina Gonzales Cordero. He joined the U.S. Army in 1942 and was sent to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, before being shipped out to Camp Gruber near Muskogee, Okla., for basic training. The "final exam" of the yearlong training was three months of maneuvers in the Louisiana swamps.

By Anna Zukowski

An award-winning sharpshooter, Valentino "Smokey" Cervantes dodged death as a member of the 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion.

On an M-1 Tracked Recovery Vehicle, Cervantes would pick up disabled half tracks after each battle. With a promotion to technician 5th class, he went on to see dogfights in which British fighter planes were shot down, "buzz bombs" flying toward England and damaged American bombers plummeting to earth. Once, a bomb even fell 20 yards away from Cervantes' vehicle, while his company was crossing the Roar River in Germany.

By Erin Neck

Alfred Castro wears a cap that bears his medals on the outside but holds his memories of the war inside.

Now 80 years old, Castro vividly remembers the details of his life before, during and after the war and the men with whom he served in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.

Born in LaVerne, Calif., on Jan. 27, 1922, Castro describes a simpler life than most children know today, living among orange orchards, going to school and playing baseball to stay out of trouble.

By Celina Moreno

World War II veteran Epigmenio Caraveo valiantly served his country as a paratrooper in the legendary 101st Airborne Division, overcoming the sting of discrimination and poverty of his youth.

As a young boy growing up in the West Texas town of Van Horn -- near his birthplace of Candelaria -- Caraveo labored for a few nickels a day, chopping cotton at a nearby farm. At age 11, he lived "a cowboy life," branding cattle and greasing the windmills for a ranch in Van Horn, 120 miles from El Paso.

By Betsy Clickman

Antonio Campos has devoted his life to fighting for the advancement of Latinos, engaging in civil rights work that has given Hispanics in South Texas a "head start."

As a child, having to share a bed with siblings or use a community bathroom facility wasn’t out of the ordinary for Campos, who grew up poor in segregated Baytown, Texas. His home was literally across the railroad tracks from the Anglos, a division that would fuel Campos' pursuit of equality throughout his life.

By Stephanie Threinen

Alabama native Nathan Edgar Bossom had never set foot outside of the South before he was drafted into World War II at the age of 20.

Although he’s Anglo, Bossom notes there was camaraderie among the troops of his unit in spite of their different backgrounds. He says he especially remembers Hector Barrera, a fellow soldier with whom he became good friends.

By Henry Mendoza

That his Purple Heart came in the mail long after he was home probably says the most about Eloy Baca's tenure as a soldier in the United States Army and, for that matter, the way most Latino veterans approached World War II -- it was something that had to be done so they gave it their best in a simple, straightforward manner.

For Baca, like his fellow veterans, that was quite a lot.

By Ellie K. Fehd

Jesus Leyva Armendaríz went from the depths of poverty during his Depression-era childhood in El Paso, Texas, to unimagined heights as a member of the famed "Blue Devils" of World War II.

By Gin Kai

Ubalbo C. Arizmendi is grateful to have seen the world, but regrets having seen it at a time when it was trying to destroy itself.

Born in the South Texas town of Brownsville, Arizmendi was 8 when his mother died. Although he knew his father, an aunt served as caretaker for him and two brothers.

With an absent father, he was forced to grow up quickly. At 10, he learned to be a mechanic by working at a garage across the street from his house.

"Our lives were very poor," he said. "We didn't have any luxuries."

By Yasemin Florey

Even though Tony Aguilera's childhood in an East Los Angeles barrio was once marked by poverty, he remembers it fondly.

"We were a very happy family," he said of his Mexico-born parents and 13 siblings. "We played marbles and tops and flew kites. We sent to the fields and caught rabbits."

Aguilera would leave his home and fond memories behind when, on March 4, 1942, he was drafted into the service as a member of a Texas infantry unit in Europe. Eventually, he’d become a prisoner of war in a German camp for 16 months.