By Andy Valdez
The Gil family story is one of overcoming the Great Depression, discrimination and one of service: four of the Gil brothers would answer their country's call to arms.
Paul, Simón, Narciso and Otis would bear arms and defend their country, leaving their home, their mother and their sisters - Ruth, Julia and Sally.
By Elliott Blackburn
For Raul de la Garza, the cratered landscape was a constant reminder of just how close the battlefield was. De La Garza remembers one particular evening when he and fellow soldiers were laying communications wire. The unit decided to spend the night in an abandoned house.
After catching up with the main body of the division the next morning, De La Garza said his communications section of his artillery unit marched back through the area where they had sought shelter the night before.
The house where they had slept had been leveled to the ground.
By Hannah McIntyre
Like many World War II veterans, Willie Garcia married his bride right before shipping out of town to prepare for overseas combat.
In 1944, Marfa, Texas, native Garcia met Elizabeth Ruiz while stationed at Camp Swift. They dated for about three months. Two days before he was to be sent overseas for military duty, he asked her to marry him. Initially she said that she would rather wait, but when he persisted, she agreed.
By Scott Reister
To become an Air Cadet in the Army's World War II training program, one had to display physical and mental superiority. Cadets had to be the best of the best, and follow a path of intense training in preparation for military service. Former Staff Sgt. Narciso Garcia knew he had what it took, including the ability to remain humble.
"Cadets were treated like ultra-special people," Garcia said. "Our superiors ... constantly built us up and told us how great we were. Some guys really believed it, but I never let it get to me."
By Hannah McIntyre
Elizabeth Garcia, who stayed home and worked while her husband was away serving in World War II, feels that the best career she could have is helping others.
Garcia has spent her life working to take care of other people. Born Elizabeth Ruiz, she and her seven siblings grew up in Austin. Both her parents were from Mexico: her mother, from Monterrey and her father, from Jalisco. The family spoke Spanish all the time.
By Nora Ramirez
For 58 years, the sounds of flying bullets and torpedo explosions have tormented Toby Fuentes.
By Karla González
It was 1944 and 28-year-old Santos (Sandy) Acosta had lost all hopes of meeting the man she would marry and live with for the rest of her life.
But that same year, the fantasy became a reality. Sandy Acosta met a sailor, who was young, charming, and who wanted to marry her, which took her by surprise.
"I never did think that he would ever do that," she said.
Three days later, Sandy Acosta became Mrs. Fuentes.
By Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez
Johnnie W. Flores was the fifth of seven children born to Jose Maria and Teresa (Huizar) Flores, on a farm outside of Somerset, Texas, a community southeast of San Antonio.
In the mid-1930s, Johnnie moved to Los Angeles, where he lived and worked until he enlisted in the Army in 1941. He served with the Co. B, 36th Infantry Regiment.
By Bettina Luis
CORPUS CHRISTI, TX-On October 21, 2000, through the efforts of former alumni, a historical marker was erected on the south side of the Nueces County courthouse dedicated to the Cheston L. Heath Grammar School. The marker denoted one of the only segregated schools in Texas.
By Joanne R. Sanchez
San Antonio, TX - When she was seven years old, Rafaela Muñiz Esquivel - the second oldest in the family that would eventually include 15 children - began caring for her brothers and sisters. Rafaela stayed home from school when her mother needed her to run errands. By the time she was nine, there were already six children in the Muñiz household, including her brother Fernando, who was born with Down's syndrome.