War Stories

Interview Description Loretta interviews her father, Benny, about his life if social service and his experience with civil rights for the Hispanic community. Facilitator Subject Log 10:00 Benny remembers a man who had earned a medal of honor in war and was refused a funeral service. The proprietor said, "I don't want to offend my white clientele. " 17:00 Benny remembers applying for a job as a truck driver and being denied because he was Mexican...

Interview Description Michael Martinez (61) talks with friend Christina Equihua (55) about his life. Facilitator Subject Log 01:00 Michael talks about the values his family placed in him. He talks about his parents and what they were like. 03:10 Michael talks about moving from East Los Angeles - and its predominant Hispanic/Latino population - and moving to Glendale, a more Cuacasian and affluent neighborhood. 06:20 Michael tells the story...

Interview Description Maria Meza-Ayala (89) habla con su hija Maribel Meza (25) de su vida en Mexico. [Maria Meza-Ayala (89) talks with her daughter Maribel Meza (25) about her life in Mexico.] Facilitator Subject Log 01:20 Maria cuenta una historia de su papa en Mexico. El era "Cristero "y soldados lo mataron cuando Maria tenia 7 años. 08:10 Maria describe el rancho de su familia en Mexico. 22:00 Maria cuenta la historia de cuando pago...

Interview Description Xavier Padilla, 76, tell his daughter Lisa Padilla, 47, about his childhood, his different occupations, his family, and his former neighborhood East Los Angeles. Facilitator Subject Log 0:50 XP talks about how his parents migrated to the United States, in the 1920s. 3:20 XP recalls some of the occupations his father had. Most of the jobs were in manufacturing, and during the Depression, XP's father Jerónimo (or Jerome) worked for...

Interview Description Inez Perez tells her grandchildren, Tony Estrada and Christy Rios about their family history, her life growing up and meeting and marrying her husband, Tony Perez. Facilitator Subject Log 01:12 Inez's parents' names and her family name, Najar. Their emigration from Mexico to El Paso and then Pasadena. 06:24 Inez remembers meeting Tony Perez, her future husband at a restaurant. They were married two weeks later with an El Paso...

Interview Description Stephanie Lorraine Pla and Roxanne Briceno-Padilla discuss military life, being a military widow, and living in bilingual and bicultural contexts. Facilitator Subject Log 2:20 SP discusses being a woman in the military. 7:10 RBP talks about her husband Fernando Padilla, who was killed in Iraq. 9:20 SP and RBP discuss challenges for military widows 17:25 SP discusses being in a bicultural marriage (Puerto...

Interview Description José Ramirez, Jr. (62) talks with his wife Magdalena Santos Ramirez (61) about growing up in Laredo,TX, their work as social workers, family history, and genealogy. Facilitator Subject Log 1:01 Magdalena was born in Laredo, TX; description of her parents and extended family 8:49 Magdalena describes her siblings; lessons that her parents taught her: education 20:32 becoming a social worker; Hispanic culture is...

Interview Description Vince Ramirez (85) talks with his daugher Nancy Ramirez (45) about living in East LA, being a pilot during WWII and his life. Facilitator Subject Log 01:00 Vince talks about his father Vicente Ramirez and his work as a machinist. Vince is from Nogales, AZ. 03:20 Vince talks about why his parents moved him and his siblings from Nogales, AZ to Los Angeles, CA. 09:30 Vince tells stories about being a Mexican-American kid...

Interview Description P. Rebeca Reyes (42) talks with her brother Aaron Serraino-Reyes (35) about fleeing El Salvador during the Civil War and immigrating to the United States with their family. Facilitator Subject Log :52 How they ended up in Corpus Christi, TX; leaving San Salvador in 1972; Rebeca's memories of arriving on the bus 4:24 sightseeing in Mexico City; taking Pan Am flight to Houston, TX; first memories of arriving in the United States...

Interview Description Chuck Rivas (71) talks with his cousin Lynn Stumblingbear (60) about the peace lance the Wichita Warrior Society presented in Washington DC as the Vietnam Memorial. Facilitator Subject Log :57 Wichita Intertribal War Memorial staff; description of the staff or peace lance made in honor of Vietnam and Korean War vets and MIAs; beadwork and eagle feathers 9:20 presenting peace lance in Washington DC; choosing the tree to cut down...