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Maria del Rosario Castro

Maria del Rosario Castro  

Political & Civic Engagement

At a young age, Rosie Castro was outspoken about racial, educational, housing and gender inequality. Despite facing pushback, she became a prominent political and civil rights activist.

Castro was born in San Antonio on March 7, 1947. Her...

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Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez

Ramiro Castro

Ramiro Castro  

World War II

By Roxanne Telles, California State University, Fullerton

After dropping out of high school, Ramiro Castro was working as an electrician when he was drafted in 1943 into the U.S. Army during World War II. He would go on to use his expertise...

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Cheryl Brownstein-Santiago

Aurora Gonzalez Castro

Aurora Gonzalez Castro  

By Anna Zukowski

Aurora Gonzalez Castro's story isn't just about her; it’s also the story of two half-brothers, Caesar and Alfred Castro, both musicians in military bands during World War II, as well as accomplished musicians after the...

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Anna Zukowski

Ladislao Catalino Castro

Ladislao\L.C.\"Castro in a March 2001 portrait. (Photo by Alan K. Davis)"  

World War II

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....

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Alan K. Davis

Alfredo Castro

Alfredo Castro  

World War II

Alfred Castro was the son of an accomplished musician, who recognized early that Alfred had a natural gift and did all he could to foster the boy’s musical growth.

Castro’s father, Luis Castro, who played the trumpet with the San Antonio...

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Zoila Antonia Castillo Castro

Sallie Castro gave this picture of herself in her early 20's to Larislao with the words,\To my darling one and only.\""  

World War II

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...

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Nicole Griffith

Caesar Catalino Castro

Caesar Catalino Castro  

World War II

As a young man in San Antonio, Caesar Castro was an accomplished pianist.

His talent caught the attention of a group of famed California musicians who wanted Caesar to move west with them, so that they could mold him.

Castro didn'...

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Jesus Castro

Jesus Castro  

World War II

By Anthony Sobotik

At 30 years of age, Jesus Castro was one of the older soldiers drafted for duty during World War II. However, this soldier and father of six children wasn't about to let his age hinder his dedication or performance.

...

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Anthony Sobotik

Alfredo A. Castro

Alfredo A. Castro  

World War II

By Erin Neck

Alfred Castro wears a cap that bears his medals on the outside but holds his memories of the war inside.

Now 80 years old, Castro vividly remembers the details of his life before, during and after the war and the men with...

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Laura Loh

George Castruita

George Castruita  

World War II

By Sparkie Anderson

George Castruita has lived a full life. He served in the Pacific in World War II, traveled abroad, witnessed apartheid in South Africa, was chased down by "Paisanos" and had a young woman turn cold when she discovered he...

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Steven Rosales

Manuel Cavada

Manuel Cavada - Voces Oral History Project  

Vietnam

By Lena Price

It was an evening like any other in Saigon in April 1968, Manuel Cavada, an Air Force crew chief, was doing the routine maintenance on C-121’s aircraft. His job was to make sure the engines were free of metal debris...

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Olivia Puentes-Reynolds

Eddie Cavazos

Eddie Cavazos  

Political & Civic Engagement

By: Voces Staff

Cavazos grew up in housing projects as a young boy, he describes it as a tight knit community. Growing up in this environment allowed him to experience different people with various personalities. Cavazos then mentions his...

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Lynda Gonzalez

Hilario Cavazos

Hilario Cavazos  

World War II

By Nicolas Martinez

When the government called Hilario Cavazos Jr. to war in October of 1943, he was in his senior year at Laredo's Martin High School, working his way toward college. He asked for an extension to finish high school, but to...

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Virgil Hines

Pablo Cavazos

Pablo Cavazos  

World War II

By Rebecca Eng

With 18 pairs of boots and 15 cowboy hats, Seventy-eight-year-old Pablo Cavazos is a walking specimen of Texas pride.

His advice to young people is simple: Get a good start in the military.

"If they go into the...

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William Luna

Carlos Cavazos

Carlos Cavazos  

World War II

By Yvonne Lim

Carlos Cavazos, a veteran infantry instructor, has been wearing his olive-brown wool uniform, along with his Army cap and gray, knotted, tie to special events for 35 years. He keeps the uniform, issued to him more than 50...

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Yvonne Lim

Rene A Cazares

Rene A Cazares  

Korean Conflict Read More Rita Sanchez

Paul Cedillo

Paul Cedillo  

Political & Civic Engagement

By Vinicio Sinta

One evening during the early 1970s, a crowd much larger than the usual Latino activists who periodically met in Rosenberg, Texas, poured into the local A.W. Jackson Elementary School to listen to a speech by Congresswoman...

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Miguel Gutierrez

Felicitas Joyce Cerda Flores

Felicitas Joyce Cerda Flores - Voces Oral History Project  

World War II

By Kendra Mayer

Education is said to open the door to opportunity, and Felicitas Flores, who has led an exceptional life, all the while using education as her key to success, knows this well.

A Houstonian by birth and by choice,...

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Mr. Paul Rodriguez Zepeda

Enrique Cervantes

Enrique Cervantes  

World War II

By Cary-Anne Olsen

A four-line poem written on a birthday card had more influence on World War II Air Force pilot Lieutenant Colonel Henry "Hank" Cervantes than his teacher could have ever imagined.

"On my eighth birthday, Miss...

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Bruce Ashcroft

Philip Cervantes

Philip Cervantes - Voces Oral History Project  

Korean Conflict

Philip Cervantes mastered the science of destruction as a specialist in explosives and demolition in a military career during the earliest years of the Cold War.

Born in East Los Angeles, California, in 1929, Cervantes was the fourth of 11...

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Henry Mendoza

Valentino Cervantes

Valentino Cervantes  

World War II

By Anna Zukowski

An award-winning sharpshooter, Valentino "Smokey" Cervantes dodged death as a member of the 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion.

On an M-1 Tracked Recovery Vehicle, Cervantes would pick up disabled half tracks after each...

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Celina Moreno

Adrienne Cervantez

Adrienne Cervantez  

Political & Civic Engagement

By Doug Waters

Growing up in Dilley, Texas, Adrienne Cervantez (nee Garcia) hated two things: politics and fried cow intestines, or tripas.

A lot of her childhood was spent campaigning for her parents, and backyard barbecues were a...

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Mr. Douglas Michael Waters

Jaime Chahin

Jaime Chahin  

Political & Civic Engagement

By: Voces Staff

Jaime Chahin is an advocate for educational equality in Texas. He was the lead witness in the LULAC v Richards case in 1987 that dealt with educational inequality in the South Texas/Border region. He is now a Dean at Texas...

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Elias Ramirez Chapa

Elias Ramirez Chapa  

World War II

By Manesh Upadhyaya

Watching war movies about battle ships as a child in Beeville, Texas, created a yearning in Elias Chapa to enlist in the Navy.

At the age of 17, Chapa still wasn’t old enough to sign up for the Navy. Having three...

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Denise Morales

Juana Estela Gonzalez Chapa

Juana Estela Gonzalez Chapa - Voces Oral History Project  

World War II

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...

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Misty Roberts

Roberto Chapa

Roberto Chapa, Active duty, Camp Adair, Oregon,1943.  

World War II

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...

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Joshua Leighton

Olga Tobías Charles

Olga Tobías Charles - Voces Oral History Project  

Political & Civic Engagement

By Voces Staff

In the spring of 1970, Olga Charles was a senior at Uvalde High School in South Texas. With just a few weeks before graduation, she was preparing to follow her mother’s career advice: Go to business school and become a...

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Anna Casey

Ralph Amado Chavarria

Ralph Amado Chavarria  

World War II

By Erin Dean

Everything is "beautiful" to Ralph Chavarria, an 88-year-old World War II veteran of the Pacific Theater, who is, to this day, a well-known musician in the Phoenix, Ariz., area.

Chavarria survived a tough childhood full...

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George Diaz

Juanita Silvas Chavez

Juanita Silvas Chavez  

World War II Read More Taylor Peterson

Raúl A Chávez

Raúl A Chávez  

World War II

By Amy Bauer

Aside from a move at 8 months of age, Raul Chavez had never traveled more than the 20 miles from Los Angeles to Catalina Island.

Born on Valentine's Day in 1926 in Chihuahua, Mexico, Chavez moved to East L.A. when he was...

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Mr. Paul Rodriguez Zepeda

Robert John Chavez

Robert John Chavez  

World War II

By Shan Dunn

One night in December of 1941, the world changed for Robert John Chavez. He was in the 9th grade and a 15-year-old teenager, attending a dance marathon, when word came over the radio that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor....

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Erika Martinez

John Chavez

John Chavez in 1945, Pearl Harbor.  

World War II

By Amanda Stair

John Chavez grew up as an orphan, moving from house to house, and later survived the bloodiest Pacific battle of World War II. After the war, he settled in Tucson, Ariz. So when he looked back, he realized: "My life turned...

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Samantha Salazar

Mariano Olivera Chores

 

World War II

The Other Soldiers

Little-remembered treaty sent 300,000 sons of Mexico to the United States during WWII; their weapons were their labor-hardy bodies

 

By Violeta Dominguez

The battlefield wasn’t the only...

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Violeta Dominguez

Francisco Cigarroa

Francisco Cigarroa  

Political & Civic Engagement

Growing up on the Texas-Mexico border, Francisco Cigarroa developed an understanding that would prepare him to become the first Latino chancellor of the University of Texas System, which allowed him to put into play the creation of the University...

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Yenibel Ruiz

Roger Cisneros

Roger Cisneros  

World War II

Roger Cisneros is a former state senator and one of Colorado's most dedicated civil rights advocates.

He was born Jan. 22, 1924, in Questa, New Mexico, to Donaciano Cisneros and Todosia Martinez.

He graduated from high school and...

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Joseph Padilla

Alicia Cisneros

Alicia Cisneros  

Voces of a Pandemic

By: Voces Staff

Alicia Cisneros works as a dental assistant in Elgin, Illinois. Due to COVID her work closed for almost two months (March to late May) and they only attended to emergencies. Although the staff and herself always had enough...

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Anthony Villanueva

Guadalupe Huerta Conde

Guadalupe Huerta Conde  

World War II

By Brooke West

Even after 58 years of marriage, Guadalupe "Lupe" Conde still serenades his wife, Maria, on some nights. It was Maria, he says, who restored the sense of peace he lost in battle in North Africa and Italy.

Conde’s...

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Carlos Conde

Frank Cordero

Frank Cordero  

World War II

By Sarah Jackson

Drafted at 21, Frank Cordero endured hardships typical of most soldiers. But in telling his story, he prefers to dwell on the lighter side of war.

Born in 1921 in Alamogordo, N.M., Cordero was the youngest of five...

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Veronica Garcia

Arnold V Cordova

Arnold Cordova  

World War II

By Matthew Pier, California State University, Fullerton

He was only a junior in high school, working a part-time job on Sept. 10, 1941, when Arnold Cordova received a government letter ordering him to report for military service. Once in...

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Cheryl Brownstein-Santiago

Alfredo Cordova

Alfredo Cordova  

World War II

By Julia Zwick

Seventy-nine-year-old Alfredo Cordova is one of the thousands of American men and women who served in the Army during World War II. His story starts in a poor town in New Mexico and takes him to California and Europe, and...

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Iliana Limón

Lina Martinez Cordova

Lina Martinez Cordova  

World War II

By Katherine Sayre

Lina Cordova prayed each night for her husband's safe return to her and their two children during World War II.

"I used to pray every night, every night I would pray, 'Please God, bring him home,'” Cordova said. "I...

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Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez

Margarito Correa

Margarito Correa  

World War II

By Edna P. Carmona,

For 10 days in 1944, Margarito Correa and nine of his fellow soldiers were lost -- tired and hungry and unsure where to go or what to do. But even in the midst of the chaos, Correa held on to hope, believing his mother'...

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Ismael Martinez

Genaro Garcia Cortes

 

World War II

By Juliana Torres

It wasn't the hard work he'd have to endure as a laborer that scared Genaro Cortes as he considered his decision to travel to the States. At 24, he was most worried about the possibility of being drafted. A mason by trade...

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Violeta Dominguez

Herman R. Cortez

Herman R. Cortez  

World War II

By Emily Priest

On June 6, 1944, Herman R. Cortez and his fellow soldiers scurried down side ladders onto landing crafts alongside a U.S. military ship as it dropped anchor on the coast of France, placing the men as close to shore as...

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Mr. Paul Rodriguez Zepeda

Ramiro G. Cortez

Ramiro G. Cortez  

World War II

By Camri Hinkie

On August 6, 1944, United States Air Force gunner Ramiro Cortez was about to board a plane bound for Berlin, Germany, which would have been his sixth mission, had he gone through with it.

Cortez wasn’t originally...

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Jessica El-Khoury

Ascención Ambros Cortez

Ascención Ambros Cortez  

World War II

By Clara Obregón

Ascención Ambros Cortez can't help but cry when she thinks of the sacrifices her brother, Enrique Ambros, and husband, Hernan Cortez, Sr., made for their country during World War II. Her husband lost his right hand and her...

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Desirée Mata

Frank R. Cortez

 

1952 was a big year for young Francisco Rene Cortez. He turned 17, joined the U.S. Marine Corps and got married.

The decisions he made that year changed the course of his life. Cortez went from a teenager who dreamed of being a warrior to...

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Ryan Edwards

Santiago Brito Craver

Santiago Brito Craver  

World War II

By Alyssa Armentrout

As U.S. Army medic Santiago Craver drove his ambulance up to the pick-up site in Northern Africa, one of the wounded men glanced up at him from below.

He had a familiar face.

"It was one of my friends who...

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Robert Rivas

Eliseo Cremar

Eliseo Cremar  

Korean Conflict

When Eliseo Cremar removed his boots after weeks of frigid combat on the Manchurian border during the Korean conflict, his toenails came off along with his socks.

The men of Cremar’s unit, 2nd Infantry Division, 37th Field Artillery...

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R.J. Molina

Delfina Josepha Lujan Cuellar

Delfina Josepha Lujan Cuellar  

World War II

By Amanda Crawford

Delfina Lujan Cuellar grew up in Albuquerque, N.M., at a time when girls were expected to become mothers and wives. Like many Mexican American girls of her generation, she wasn’t allowed to attend school after the eighth...

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Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez