San Marcos

By Denise Chávarri

In the Army, Agustin Lucio, a 10th-grade dropout from a farming community outside San Marcos, Texas, noticed that many other young soldiers were educated or had finished high school. So, while in training, he decided to educate himself, asking for books and learning from those around him.

After two years at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Lucio was sent to Camp McCoy in Wisconsin, where he received elite Ranger and ski training. He would be sent to fight in Europe as part of the D-Day invasion.

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 store and they would not hire Mexican Americans because they just weren't hiring them, or even grocery stores weren't hiring [Mexican Americans]," he recalled.

Aguirre worked in a restaurant with his mother for a while and then in 1939 he joined the service.