Eugene Ramirez Casarez
By Joanne Rao Sánchez
Eugene Casarez was just 11 years old when he started working for the Surprise Bakery on E. 7th Street in Austin, Texas.
Little did he realize that his four years of making empanadas, pan de huevo and bizcochitos would one day be tapped by the U.S. Army after he was drafted in 1944.
"They looked at my records, and said, 'We need you in the kitchen....'," Casarez said.