Army

By Sonia Alvarez and Joe Muller

Due to his father's career as a casting agent and magazine entertainment writer, Severo Lopez always held a special place in his heart for the arts and cinematography.

After watching Frank Sinatra perform at the Palladium in Los Angeles in the early 1940s, Lopez arrived home after midnight and was shocked to see an FBI car waiting at his front door. He was informed that he had failed to report for duty when his World War II draft notice arrived.

By Trent Lesikar

“All those bullets and none of them had my name on it,” Emilio Portales said with a laugh. Portales saw action on the front lines of U.S. Army campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, France and Germany during World War II. He survived the 1944 invasion of Normandy, fought in much of the European campaign, and witnessed the liberation of a concentration camp in Germany.

Tribute provided by Grace Charles, daughter of Joe Medina Guajardo.

After two years of separation during World War II, U.S. Army soldier Joe Medina Guajardo was reunited by chance in Australia with his cousin, Juan Sanchez.

They embraced and made plans to eat at Sanchez's camp, but when Guajardo arrived at Sanchez's campsite, there was no trace of Sanchez or his men.

Tribute provided by Grace Charles; daughter of Mr. Sanchez's cousin, Voces subject Joe Guajardo

Juan Sanchez, an Army soldier, rarely talked about his experiences during World War II. Now, dementia clouds some of the decorated World War II veteran's memories.

However, when his cousin's daughter, Grace Charles, asked what he remembered about the war, Sanchez simply responded: "He said he'd come back, and he did."

By Anna Kavich

By Bianca Krause

Dec. 8, 1941, forever changed his life.

Riding in a car on Market Street in Laredo, Texas, 16-year-old John Valls heard a speech that would shape his future. With his “Day of Infamy” speech, President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan after the Pearl Harbor attacks and convinced Valls that his life’s mission was to serve his country.

By Joshua Avelar

For Richard Geissler Jr., a U.S. Army veteran who became a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, passion for community activism shaped his life despite the many different communities he served and the overbearing obstacles he faced.