By: Voces Staff
José Aliseda's family was uprooted by the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, leading them to relocate to Mexico City. He would later move to the U.S., serve in the Army in Vietnam, and become an anesthesiologist in Texas.
Aliseda's father was a teacher who became an attorney and served in the Spanish federal government. When the Civil War broke out in 1936, Aliseda's father supported the Republicans, who were defeated by Gen. Francisco Franco's Nationalist forces.
By the Voces Staff
Jesse Herrera grew up on the South Side of Chicago in a working-class neighborhood where many of his peers went straight from high school to jobs in the steel mills.
That wasn't the future he wanted for himself. But he didn't know anyone who had gone to college. "It was alien to me," he said. The Vietnam War was underway, but Herrera didn't want to wait to be drafted, which meant he'd go right to the Army. "The Navy appealed to my sense of adventure" and offered a chance to see the world, he said.
By Catherine Murphy
Growing up in San Antonio, Texas, Charles Paul Jones was no stranger to diversity. Jones’ neighborhood on the west side of town included Belgians, Germans, Hispanics, Italians and Lebanese.
“It was a Brooklyn Southwest, for lack of a better term,” Jones said. “We all learned about each other’s culture. … Everybody on the block got along.” He valued the experience of growing up in such a dynamic culture.
By Tarrah Miller
By Voces Staff
A bullet in his chest and scars on his stomach were lifelong reminders of Felipe Ramirez's Vietnam War experience.
"The first round of bullets hit the machine gun. Before I knew it, I was hit. I felt something. I took a big dive and went behind a tree and said to another soldier, 'I'm OK, I'm OK,'" he said.
By Zachary Romo, California State University, Fullerton
Standing in front of a judge, Ramon Rodriguez was given two options when he was 17: Go to jail or join the military. With his father’s approval, he chose to serve.
As a teenager in the late 1950s, Rodriguez had run wild on the streets of Wilmington, California. He was involved with gangs, including one case of grand theft auto. He claimed the reason for his behavior was a desire for adventure.
By Jazmin Sanchez, California State University, Fullerton
By Wes Hamilton
Paz Peña was a small-town kid in every way. Growing up in Mathis, Texas, he was the oldest of four siblings and always felt destined to leave his town to make an impact in the world.
By Jackie Rapp
If growing up in a family with 11 brothers and one sister doesn’t sound hectic enough, Raymond
"Ray" Saucedo’s family also didn’t just stay in one location. Saucedo's childhood consisted of summers when the family would load up a truck and wooden camper and head to Michigan, Ohio, or anywhere else that cherry-, strawberry- and tomato-picking migrant work led them.
“Wherever work was, we would go,” said Saucedo, who went on to serve in the U.S. Army in both the Korean and Vietnam wars.
By Kristina Beverly, Cal State Fullerton
When Joseph Velasquez joined the U.S. Navy on April 23, 1968, he received a card that asked where he would want to go if he were deployed.
He could have picked anywhere, but he wanted to be where the action was. Velasquez wanted to go to Vietnam.
"People would ask, 'Why do you want to go there?' Velasquez said. "But it would be like going to a wedding and not seeing the groom. I didn’t want to miss the action."