Juan R. Lujan
By Joel Weickgenant
As a 20-year-old at the end of 1942, Juan Lujan remembers thinking World War II was passing him by. He wanted to participate in the war effort, but he’d promised his mother he wouldn't volunteer.
In the end, it was a promise Lujan wasn’t able to keep.
"I was afraid the war would be over, and I would not get the chance to go," he said.
Lujan got his wish in November of 1942, when he was drafted into the Army, rendering his promise to his mother moot.