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 an article that ran on the front page of The Daily Texan, the university's student newspaper.
By Antonio Gilb
Many of Robert Ramón's wartime memories have faded in the last few decades: Stories of his days in postwar Japan have lost their clarity, and memories of his "nightmare" in the Philippines have dulled in their ability to haunt.
The war, Ramón says, was a couple of lifetimes ago.
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.
By Liliana Velázquez
Leon Eguia has kept silent for many years, never inclined to share his feelings about World War II with anyone, not even his family.
"I saw a lot of things," said Eguia, who opened up during a recent interview. "So I put a wall between me and my feelings. Otherwise, I would become crazy."
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 possible. As soon as the plank dropped, the soldiers jumped out and began making their way up Omaha Beach amid a shower of artillery shells from German soldiers.
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 battle. With a promotion to technician 5th class, he went on to see dogfights in which British fighter planes were shot down, "buzz bombs" flying toward England and damaged American bombers plummeting to earth. Once, a bomb even fell 20 yards away from Cervantes' vehicle, while his company was crossing the Roar River in Germany.
By Betsy Clickman
Antonio Campos has devoted his life to fighting for the advancement of Latinos, engaging in civil rights work that has given Hispanics in South Texas a "head start."
As a child, having to share a bed with siblings or use a community bathroom facility wasn’t out of the ordinary for Campos, who grew up poor in segregated Baytown, Texas. His home was literally across the railroad tracks from the Anglos, a division that would fuel Campos' pursuit of equality throughout his life.
By Veronica Franco
On his 20th birthday, Delphino Peña was drafted into World War II as a soldier fighting for both his country and his life in the Philippines against the Japanese.
By Robert Mayer
Johnnie Marino was working as a tinsmith in Houston, having learned the trade from President Roosevelt's National Youth Administration program, when he heard about Hitler's running amok in Europe.
By Stephen Stetson
Ernest Eguia spent a lifetime on the cutting edge. Rising above the crippling poverty of the Great Depression, Eguia was at the forefront of the Allied Invasion of Normandy during World War II and was also on the frontlines of the Civil Rights Movement, pioneering the movement for Latino integration in the Houston area after the war.