United States

Mike Aguirre

By Aryn Sedler

SAN MARCOS, Texas -- When Mike Aguirre graduated from Brackenridge High School in San Antonio in 1939, many opportunities and doors were closed to Mexican Americans.

"One of my friends got a job at the Five and Dime store and they would not hire Mexican Americans because they just weren't hiring them, or even grocery stores weren't hiring [Mexican Americans]," he recalled.

Aguirre worked in a restaurant with his mother for a while and then in 1939 he joined the service.

Andrew Aguirre

By Kathryn Tomasovic

Andrew Aguirre's youth was overwhelmed with battlefield events that continue to haunt him to this day.

Aguirre was born in Vinton, Texas, on Jan. 4, 1925, and moved to San Diego three years later.

Growing up during the Great Depression, Aguirre's parents, Maximo and Sara Aguirre, struggled to feed and clothe nine children. All 11 members of the family lived in a tiny home, about 480 squared feet -- two rooms of about 12 feet wide and 20 feet long, with an outdoor toilet and a faucet for drinking water in the back.

Valentin Aguilar

By Dartinya Harris

Valentín Aguilar says he feels proud that he served during World War II.

Born in Laredo, Texas, Aguilar only received a second grade education. He made a living picking vegetables on a community farm. Aguilar's eyes would soon be opened to a vast new world by participating in the U.S. Military. Aguilar became a soldier in the Army on December 3, 1942. After being inducted at Fort Sam Houston, he trained for over a year with the 84th Division.

Rudy Acosta

By Frank Trejo

Growing up in Southern California, Rudy Acosta was like countless of other young boys. He escaped each week to the movies and watched the likes of Errol Flynn and John Wayne triumph over the bad guys.

Little did he know that just a few years later, World War II would propel him into the midst of one of the biggest confrontations the world has seen. Acosta, the son of Mexican immigrants, would find himself in the center of numerous heroic escapades.

"In my case, I lived that... We lived that experience," he said.

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