Austin

By Marta McGonagle

It was May 8, 1945. The war in Europe was over, but not for Ramón G. Galindo. After the death of Adolph Hitler, it was Galindo's 571st Anti-Aircraft Automatic Weapons Battalion that was stationed at Hitler's headquarters. As Galindo stepped into the building, the first thing he saw was a large swastika, the powerful symbol of the Nazis.

Covering the walls were oversized pictures of Hitler and his top officers.

Part of Galindo's mission was to protect the images of the very man the Allies had been fighting against.

By Lisa Cummings

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Nationality Act of 1940 on October 14 of that year, Jose Galindo's life would never be the same. The act allowed Mexican-born residents to be drafted or volunteer for the U.S. Armed Forces.

Earlier that same year he offered to assist the United States Army and was rejected because he was a Mexican citizen.

Galindo received a Certificate of Naturalization, which allowed him to serve in the U.S. Army.

"I wanted to volunteer," Galindo said. "They wouldn't accept me because I was a Mexican citizen."

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 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."