World War II

Stories with interview subjects from our World War II collection. Browse all stories to see subjects across all Voces collections.

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Subject Collection Story Interviewed by

Charley Gonzales Kidder

Charley Gonzales Kidder - Voces Oral History Project  

World War II

By Natasha Verma

“Two years, 11 months and 21 days,” World War II veteran Charley Gonzales Kidder said with a smile. “That’s exactly how long I served.”

At 18 years of age, Gonzales Kidder was proud and honored that his country gave...

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Liliana Rodriguez

Ernestine Mojica Kidder

Ernestine Mojica Kidder - Voces Oral History Project  

World War II

By Haley Dawson

Ernestine Mojica Kidder vividly recalls one of her earliest memories as a young child in Taylor, Texas. Her father lifted her into his arms and pointed to a schoolhouse in the distance. “That’s where you’re going to school...

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Taylor Peterson

John Soltero

John Soltero - Voces Oral History Project  

World War II

By Katherine Salinas

His hand mimicked the path of a B-17, recalling the spry 22-year-old that John Soltero had been all those years ago when he was dropping bombs onto Berlin. A confident smile was radiant beneath his shaded glasses and “...

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Liliana Rodriguez

Carmen B. Salaiz Esqueda Abalos

Carmen B. Salaiz Esqueda Abalos  

World War II

By Kenneth Cantu

Back when Rosie the Riveter was proclaiming to women all across the U.S., “We Can Do It!” Carmen (Salaiz) Esqueda Abalos proved it.

Her husband, Mike, having enlisted in the Navy, Abalos joined the war effort by...

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Brenda Sendejo

Apolonia Muñoz Abarca

Apolonia Muñoz Abarca  

World War II

By Darcie Stevens

As news of the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor came over the radio on Dec. 7, 1941, a 20-year-old Polly Muñoz Abarca started dreaming of places worlds away from her dorm room in Corpus Christi, Texas.

None of the...

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Erica Martinez

Salomon Trevino Abrego

Salomon Trevino Abrego  

World War II

By Justin Lefkowski

Salomon Abrego was at the Battle of the Bulge, where he and his fellow soldiers suffered through one of the coldest winters to hit the area in more than 20 years.

As a medic, Abrego watched helplessly as the cold...

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Juan De la Cruz

Hector Acedo

Hector Acedo  

World War II

By Melanie Kudzia

Hector Acedo was 19 and World War II had been in full swing for three years when an older friend who’d already been drafted said: "Let's join the Navy."

Acedo’s response: "Sure, well let's go."

After...

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Claudia Provencio

Anthony Acevedo

Anthony Acevedo  

World War II

By Cathy Sze

It was 50 degrees below zero, one of the coldest winters Germany had seen in 50 years. A blanket of snow several feet high covered the ground.

Wearing only combat uniforms designed for warfare in the tropics, a group of...

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Eluid Martinez

Rudy Acosta

Rudy Acosta in Italy.  

World War II

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...

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Louis Sahagun

Jessie Acuña

Jessie Acuña  

World War II

By Paul Brown

A trip across the Atlantic on the luxury ship the Queen Mary would seem like a dream come true for anyone, especially a teenager from a small West Texas town. But for Jessie Acuña, it was a trip into the unknown. The trek...

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Paul Brown

Jose Eriberto Adame

Jose Eriberto Adame  

World War II

By Lindsay Blau

Jose "Joe" Eriberto Adame saw combat in one of the most defining events of World War II -- the Battle of Normandy. But one of his most vivid memories is at the genesis of America's involvement in the conflict -- the day the...

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Christina Perkins

Frank Aguerrebere

Frank Aguerrebere  

World War II

By Kimberly Tran, California State University, Fullerton

Although he never talked much about his wartime experiences, Frank Aguerrebere parachuted into the Normandy Invasion and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, two of the bloodiest and...

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Vicki Torres

Nicanor Aguilar

Nicanor Aguilar  

World War II

By Claudia Farias

Nicanor Aguilar is something of a renaissance man, both as a musician and, at an age when most people would be slowing down, an athlete.

But Aguilar’s proudest accomplishment involves his efforts to end...

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Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez

Valentin Aguilar

Valentin Aguilar guarding German prisoners near Naples, Italy in 1945 along with other members of the 78th Ordinance.  

World War II

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...

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Peter Mendoza

Salvador V. Aguilar

Salvador V. Aguilar  

World War II

By Joel Weickgenant

Salvador Aguilar remembers lonesome nights aboard the cargo ship he served on during World War II. On many nights, he and fellow sailors and troops were forced to lie in the dark, ordered not make any sounds. It was...

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Joel Weickgenant

Tony Aguilera

 

World War II

By Yasemin Florey

Even though Tony Aguilera's childhood in an East Los Angeles barrio was once marked by poverty, he remembers it fondly.

"We were a very happy family," he said of his Mexico-born parents and 13 siblings. "We played...

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Milton Carrero Galarza

Josephine Trujillo Aguilera

 

World War II

By Emily Berman

Josephine Aguilera sits and contemplates her life during the Second World War.

She explained how her experience growing up was different from her two daughters’ because she never got the chance to finish school. She...

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Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez

Manuel Joseph Aguirre

Manuel Joseph Aguirre  

World War II

By Angela Macias

Manuel Aguirre’s small stature prevented him from joining the Marines, but it didn’t keep him from doing his part in the war effort.

After hearing President Franklin D. Roosevelt tell the nation the Japanese had...

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Angela Macias

Andrew Aguirre

Andrew Aguirre  

World War II

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.

...

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Rene Zambrano

Mike Aguirre

Mike Aguirre, California, 1943 dressed in Army uniform.  

World War II

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...

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Aryn Sedler

Gloria Araguz Alaniz

Gloria Araguz Alaniz  

World War II

By Yvonne Lim

Gloria Araguz Alaniz began her role as the family caregiver when her mother passed away, leaving 15-year-old Alaniz to care for her...

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Yvonne Lim

Rodolfo Alaniz

Rodolfo Alaniz  

World War II, Korean Conflict

By Rajesh Reddy

In the spring of 1945, 16-year-old Rodolfo “Rudy” Alaniz's older brother Ricardo, a rifleman with the 8th Infantry Division, was killed in Germany, an event that would alter young Alaniz’s life.

"I presented my brother...

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Rajesh Reddy

Carmen Irizarry Albelo

Carmen Irizarry Albelo  

World War II

By Sylvia Mendoza

When Carmen Albelo sailed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to the United States in 1939, she envisioned a land of opportunity and freedom, not war, discrimination and loneliness.

"When I came here I thought I was...

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Helen Aguirre Ferre

Higinio Albelo

Higinio Albelo  

World War II

By Luisito Caleon

The choppy seas north of Scotland were dark.

A dense fog enveloped the Navy ship loaded with ammunition destined for Normandy, the site of the beginning of the end of World War II.

The ship, on its way to...

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Adrian Baschuk

Joseph Alcoser

Joe Alcoser as a young sailor, around 1946. Mr. Alcoser's Naval Reserve Active Duty unit was recalled during the Korean War.  

World War II

By Eric Garza

The Great Depression. World War II. The civil rights movement. Joseph Alcoser lived through these milestones in American history. Yet, he never truly felt that he was part of the country that he fought to defend.

...

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Rene Zambrano

Moses Aleman

Moses Aleman  

World War II, Korean Conflict

By Cheryl Smith Kemp

When Moses “Moe” Alemán’s parents emigrated from Mexico to Austin, Texas, as children, the horse...

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Lynn Maguire-Walker

Juan Ramon Alires

Juan Ramon Alires  

World War II

By Xochitl Salazar

Juan Ramon Alires was already the father of two children, with another baby on the way, when he went to war as part of the 11th Armored Division.

Alires was drafted into the Army and assigned to the 11th Armored...

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Irene Consuelo Chavez

Braulio Alonso

Braulio Alonso  

World War II

By Cheryl Smith Kemp

Of the many memories Braulio Alonso has of World War II, none stick out more than those tied to the liberation of Italy’s capital.

After Allied forces flooded Rome on June 4, 1945, some members of the 328th...

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Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez

Raymond Phile Alvarado

Raymond P. Alvarado was interviewed by the VOCES Oral History Project in Denver, Colorado on August 9, 2010. Photo by Michelle Lojewski.  

World War II

By Mary Margaret Tobin

It was Nov. 26, 1943, and Pvt. Raymond Alvarado played poker with his buddies on the HMT Rohna as it sailed along the coast of Algeria. The soldiers were relaxed. They chatted about their wives and girlfriends back...

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Taylor Peterson

Benjamin Alvarado

Benjamin Alvarado  

World War II

By Kathryn Wilson

A pile of manure saved the life of Benjamin Alvarado during World War II in 1944.

A private in Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army, he served in the 317th Infantry Regiment of the 80th Infantry Division. Alvarado...

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Nicole Cruz

Homero Alvarado

Homero Alvarado  

World War II

By Kristen Clark

Homero Alvarado is a true American hero.

Born March 12, 1925, in Vera Cruz, Mexico, Alvarado and his 11 siblings, nine of whom are still living, were raised in a bilingual household by his Italian mother and Mexican...

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William Luna

Albert Jose Angel

Albert Jose Angel  

World War II

By Israel Saenz

After joining the Army during World War II, New Mexico native Albert Angel began fretting he’d spend the entire war fixing airplanes stateside, so he found his supervisor and confronted him:

"You're wasting your time...

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Norman L. Martinez

Philip Antuna

 

World War II

By Cheyenne Cozzalio

Brothers Ralph and Philip Antuna can joke now about the food they had to eat while stationed in Europe in 1944. But underneath the laughter is a note of relief they made it out of Europe alive after fighting in the...

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William Luna

Ralph Antuna

Ralph Antuna  

World War II

By Cheyenne Cozzalio

Brothers Ralph and Philip Antuna can joke now about the food they had to eat while stationed in Europe in 1944. But underneath the laughter is a note of relief they made it out of Europe alive after fighting in the...

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William Luna

Jose Aragon

Jose Aragon  

World War II

By Laura Lopez, California State University, Fullerton

Few people can claim to have been a veteran of three military branches.

And few can recall images of war as vividly as Jose Aragon did when, at the age of 84, he recounted his...

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Joseph Padilla

Joe A. Arambula

Joe A. Arambula  

World War II

By Michael Taylor

According to Joe Arambula, a veteran of some World War II's most intense battles in the European Theater, there is such a thing as being too careful in war. Seeing men killed for being too cautious made Arambula decide he'...

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Michael Taylor

Benerito Seferino Archuleta

Benerito Seferino Archuleta  

World War II

By Heather Hilliard

The six months Bennie Archuleta spent in battle in Europe during World War II changed his life forever.

As a 17-year-old teenager, he had rarely traveled outside of the American Southwest. But as a soldier in the...

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Brian Daugherty

Eva Maria Rains Archuleta

Eva Maria Rains Archuleta  

World War II

By Rachel Finney

Born in her grandmother's home in 1926, in the small agricultural town of Las Tusas in northern New Mexico, Eva Maria Archuleta lived a life of modest means, like most during the World War II era.

With no electricity...

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Adrianna Lujan

Frank Arellano

Frank Arellano - Voces Oral History Project  

World War II

By Veronica Sainz

In the early morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941, 22-year-old Frank Arellano had just gone down for breakfast at Schoffield Barracks, on the Hawiian Island of Oahu, when he heard the sound of machine guns firing. He...

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Rea Ann Trotter

Ubaldo Arizmendi

Ubaldo Arizmendi  

World War II

By Gin Kai

Ubalbo C. Arizmendi is grateful to have seen the world, but regrets having seen it at a time when it was trying to destroy itself.

Born in the South Texas town of Brownsville, Arizmendi was 8 when his mother died. Although...

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Andrea Shearer

Jesus Leyva Armendaríz

Jesus Leyva Armendaríz  

World War II

By Ellie K. Fehd

Jesus Leyva Armendaríz went from the depths of poverty during his Depression-era childhood in El Paso, Texas, to unimagined heights as a member of the famed "Blue Devils" of World War II.

Armendaríz served as a medic...

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Mariel Garza

Albert Armendariz

Portrait of Albert Armendariz.  

World War II

By Shannon Owens

Albert Armendariz has practiced law in Texas for over 50 years. The 81-year-old WWII veteran spends many weekends driving to represent his immigrant clients in West Texas who are trapped in the legal system.

"It's...

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Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez

Tom Armendariz

 

World War II

By Casey Zertuche

For 72-year-old Thomas Armendariz, it was difficult to conjure up memories of World War II, though he does recall being assigned to a unit that included many Mexican Americans.

"I wasn't a volunteer. I was drafted...

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William Luna

Ceprian Armijo

Portrait of Ceprian Armijo.  

World War II

By Silky Shah

Ceprian Armijo started working on nearby farms with his father in his hometown of Avondale, Colorado when he was at about 8 years old. Little did he know that nearly ten years later he would be going off to fight in World War...

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Rea Ann Trotter

Andres Arredondo

Andres Arredondo  

World War II

By Valerie Venegas

Andres Arredondo dealt with adversity throughout his life. He overcome the death of his father at an early age and endured the torture of being a prisoner of war during World War II. Yet, through it all, he has managed to...

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Juan De la Cruz

Raul P. Arreola

Raul P. Arreola  

World War II Read More Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez

Cirilo Primo Arteaga

Cirilo Primo Arteaga - Voces Oral History Project  

World War II

By Erin Brady

Cirilo Primo Arteaga's parents came to the U.S. in 1918, fleeing the violence that followed the Mexican Revolution. His parents instilled in him a deep sense of patriotism for their adopted country. He also learned an...

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Joseph Marion Autobee

Joseph Autobee in Summer flying suit.  

World War II

By Joseph Money

Joe Autobee, of Publo, Colorado, grew accustomed to the taste of whiskey during his WWII service. As an Air Corps gunner pilot during World War II, he was given a sandwich and a glass of whiskey at the end of every raid...

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Rea Ann Trotter

Imogene Davis Avalos

Imogene Davis Avalos  

World War II

By Karin Brulliard

When Imogene "Jean" Davis first laid eyes on Alfred Avalos in September of 1942, she didn’t notice he was more than a decade her senior, and that his skin was several shades darker than hers. She saw only that he was...

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Karin Brulliard

Arnulfo D. Azios

Arnulfo D. Azios  

World War II

By Ann Harbour

As the tower bells at the University of Texas at Austin rang "You're in the Army Now," Arnulfo “A.D.” Azios and fellow members of what was called the Enlisted Reserve Corps were called to duty. Judge Azios proudly recalls...

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Mr. Paul Rodriguez Zepeda