By Jenny Murphy
Engulfed by a huge armchair, 78 year-old Betty Chavez Silva reflects on her memories growing up in New Mexico, remembering two older brothers who went off to serve in World War II.
Silva smiles when she talks about her two brothers. She remembers her parents were upset the boys had to drop out of college to fight in the war.
She remembers the letters written by her brothers to her parents, which often mentioned girlfriends to whom they’d one day return.
She remembers her mother constantly praying throughout the war, and her father pressing his ear to the radio, straining to hear any news of the battles overseas.
Most of all, she remembers one of her brothers didn’t return from the war, a casualty of a battle in North Africa. A neighbor informed the family of her brother's death before the official military telegram came, she says.
Silva's smile is contagious and her nervous laugh masks much of the pain she experienced during the war years. She grew up in Polvadera, N.M., a small farm town about 100 miles south of Albuquerque.
Silva's parents, Pedro Chavez and Maria Benavidez Chavez, were living and working with Silva and her seven siblings on their farm in Polvadera before the war separated the family. She says her mother was a homemaker and her father tended the farm. Her father also worked in the local mines to earn extra money.
Silva recalls playing hopscotch and jacks and sharing a lone bicycle with her seven brothers and sisters.
"I was a tomboy," Silva said. "I liked to play with the boys."
At night, when the work was done for the day, Silva's mother would read stories to her and her brothers and sisters. She remembers how much she loved the stories.
"When we went to bed, she was just reading us stories about a rich girl and a poor girl," Silva said. "Whenever they took out the rich girl, they went in a wagon, and the poor girl was running around catching butterflies. And the rich girl was envious of the poor girl because she was playing and everything."
In many respects, it was the handmade clothes sewn by her mother that Silva remembers most fondly. Maria would make the girls' dresses out of flour sacks instead of plain white cloth because she wanted her girls to have dresses that were decorated with colorful flowers.
Despite the fact that the Chavezs lived in a three-bedroom adobe house, Silva always thought of her family as fortunate, especially during the Depression.
"We always had something to eat," Silva said. "So we were ok during the Depression."
When Betty and her siblings were old enough, they all attended elementary school in Polvadera and then high school in nearby Socorro, N.M. They all graduated from high school. One of Silva’s brothers, who’d eventually leave for the war, attended college at the University of New Mexico.
None of Silva’s sisters attended college.
"My mother believed girls did not have to work, just the boys. I don't think they could afford to send us to college," said Silva, who enjoyed school. "High school was the best years of my life.”
Silva knew she wouldn’t be able to attend college, but she always wanted to.
She saw the impact that WWII had on cities around America when her high school would no longer make yearbooks because of a shortage of paper. Her school didn’t produce a yearbook her last three years of high school, said Silva, who graduated in 1945.
Silva also watched as she lost friends when her classmates were called to join the war effort. She remembers how hard it was to say goodbye to all the young men, and how excited she was when they returned.
While her brothers were serving their country in the war, Silva was in high school trying to graduate. She says if it wasn't for her brothers, she might not have even known a war was raging overseas.
Silva's brother, Seferino, served in the Armed Forces as a medic. He attended basic training in North Carolina before being shipped to North Africa, where he died. Letters from him flowed in for three months, but then a telegram confirmed the family’s worst fears -- Seferino had lost his life in battle.
His letters were filled with talk about the girlfriend he’d left in Polvadera. He asked his mother to watch over his girlfriend, who he planned to marry, Silva said.
Silva's second brother, Henry, left for the war right after Seferino enlisted. Henry's letters home were censored, she says, so the Chavez family was clueless as to where he was stationed throughout the war. He returned in 1947.
Silva married Mike Silva on Nov. 8, 1948. They first met when they were both at Polvadera Elementary School. Silva and Mike moved in 1954 to Albuquerque, N.M., where they still resided at the time of Silva’s interview.
During their 54 years of marriage together Silva and her husband have raised three boys and one adopted girl.
She says she’s surprised by the growing number of Latinos appearing on the news and involved in politics. She knows education is at the heart of this success: After the war, Silva says she saw more opportunities for Hispanics in higher education than ever before.
This great-grandmother offers an important lesson she wants all Latinos to embrace:
"Get an education. It is very important. The most important thing in life is education."
Mrs. Silva was interviewed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on November 2, 2002, by Jennifer Sanchez.