SUBMITTED REPORT
Adolfo Carrizales Villanueva, born in 1918 in Hays County, grew up near a ranch called Center Point. He started school at age eight in a segregated classroom school with about 20 Mexican American children who lived in the same area.
By age 15, Villanueva was out of school and worked as a rancher, alongside his father and older brothers during the Great Depression. During this time he met his future wife, Pauline, but their courtship was put on hold once Villanueva was drafted by the military in 1941.
He was stationed in Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. After a quick good-bye to his family, he ended up at Camp Brown Wood in Africa for training. He only had time to write a short letter to Pauline saying he was off to war.
Villanueva, who before the war had never left Texas, was then sent to Italy with the 36th Division to help fight the Nazis. His fellow soldiers were mainly working-class men from the South – predominantly Anglo and Mexican American men.
Villanueva went with the second wave of soldiers to storm the shores of Naples, Italy, on the coast of Salerno.
For three months, he and his compadres braved harsh weather, trekked through the high mountains and fought battle after battle, advancing slowly across the mountains of Italy. In a freezing cold battle in December 1943, Villanueva was injured by a mortar round shrapnel. He was out of commission for a month.
He was released and sent to the front line for the invasion of Rome. Three weeks later, he was injured again jumping from bomb debris from a plane that had crashed about 300 yards away.
Villanueva then headed to France for yet another battle. He was part of the third wave of soldiers sent in to fight. He also fought in Germany at a reserve camp.
After four years of fighting injuries and many battles, he finally came back to Texas. He and Pauline were married Dec. 16, 1945.
Villanueva worked as a truck driver and later as a migrant worker on several farms. Entering his 40’s, Villanueva worked in construction as a means to support a large family that now included eight children. During this time, he helped build some of the region’s landmarks, such as the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio, as well as quite a few buildings at the University of Texas at Austin. He did construction work until he retired at age 70.
Now, at age 95, Villanueva is living with diabetes. He faces new battles, not of the military kind, including kidney failure, a terminal diagnosis from more than one doctor, and long stints in the hospital. Just like in World War II, he fought off whatever was trying to kill him, his family says, citing his survivor’s instincts. Now, they say, he is stronger than ever.
Villanueva said the most important thing he has learned about life is how precious it really is and to prevail no matter how highly the odds are stacked against you.
“Nobody is going to tell me when it’s my time to go. I’ll go when I am ready,” he said.
