By Angela Macias
With an older brother John already serving in the Army in Europe, James DeLeon was adamant about going to serve his country during World War II.
"My parents were against me joining, but I thought I should do my part," DeLeon said.
His parents finally gave him the permission he needed to join the Marines and went to boot camp. When asked why the he joined the Marines, his answer was simple.
"They were the best," DeLeon said.
By Joshua Leighton
When Roberto Chapa enlisted in the United States Army on December 2, 1942, he had no idea how much this decision would alter the rest of his life.
Though the war was thousands of miles away in Europe and Asia, Chapa, from the border town of Roma, Texas, was one of thousands of Mexican Americans to participate in the war and later to take advantage of the educational benefits created for veterans.
By Misty Roberts
Estela Gonzalez Chapa's experiences during the war may not have all the drama and suspense of typical war stories; she was living in Rio Grande City, in South Texas. But her memories of the war provide a glimpse of what life was like for young women back home.
By Nicole Griffith
Sallie Castro is the wife, mother, and grandmother of military men. The walls in her living room are covered with pictures of the men in uniform and medals decorate the bookcases. Mrs. Castro, 74, is a true patriot.
By Alan K. Davis
From their crippled B-24 bomber, Ladislao "L.C." Castro and the rest of the crew could see the white cliffs of Dover across the English Channel, on March 18, 1944. The fuel gauges read empty. The control cables were severed. And a 4-foot section of the left wing was missing.
The bomber began a slow downward spiral toward occupied France; there was no way to make it back to England.
By Chandler Elise Race
As Manuel Castillo stood on the landing barge off of Omaha Beach in Normandy, the battle was already in full motion on shore. For Castillo, the reality of the landing was not the glorified or stirring depictions of the movies: real lives were being lost. Fathers, brothers and uncles were being killed. The memories of those days in 1943 still affect Castillo today.
By Joanne R. Sanchez
As a child, growing up in Austin, Theresa Herrera Casarez loved to sing, dance and recite poetry. Later, during WWII, she was able to put her talents to work entertaining soldiers at USO clubs and at nearby Camp Swift.
"[For] Cinco de Mayo and Dieciseis de Septiembre fiestas my mother...helped me to learn [Mexican] poesias (poetry)," she said, referring to celebrations in honor of Mexican holidays. "She . . . made sure that I would have a new one for every year. People had no other type of entertainment. We looked forward to putting on the big show."
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.
By Bettina Luis
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Standing at attention, his thumbs aligned with the seam of the trouser, his heels together at a 45-degree angle. Thomas Cantu Jr. looked straight ahead as he was awarded the Air Medal in 1943 for completing 150 combat flying hours.
The yellow clapboard house with the 1990 Cadillac Seville parked outside is Lalo Campos' home. A Mexican American World War II veteran, he sits in a study that is covered with family portraits with his feet propped up in his walker. There is a distinct smell of Terra-gesic cream, similar to Ben-Gay, in the air -- which he uses to ease the pain in his feet. Campos has been a diabetic for 20 years and in 1992 the diabetes severed the nerve ends on his feet, which has made it very painful to walk.
Campos has come a long way in 75 years; he has even been around the world.