“I took an oath to protect this country and I’m doing my best to live up to the values of the Army. It’s been frustrating and heartbreaking not to obtain my citizenship as promised, but I will continue to honor my commitment. It’s what I would expect…

“It was our way of paying back our adopted country, defending it with our lives.”~Alexander Vindman, Interview with HIAS, 2020"People come to this country as immigrants and refugees and serve-- whether that be in service in uniform like Alex and I…

“The day I was eighteen, I was inducted into the military. And I actually became a citizen afterwards, in the military, in a place outside of Jacksonville, Florida, I was sworn into the—as an American citizen. I stayed in the military through basic…

"Yesterday, at 2am, we left the camp to attack the enemy that was waiting for us 2 miles away. I didn't know what kind of luck I was going to have. I only knew that my battalion was the first to attack. God wanted me to be able to give you another…

“This was my quiet war.” ~Josefina Guerrero in the Congressional Record Proceedings of the 82nd Congress Second Session Appendix Volume 98 Part 10, April 28, 1952 - June 16, 1952 Botn in Lucban, Quezon province, in the Philippines in 1917, Josefine…

"Lots of boys enlisted under the wrong name. So did I. The country needed men, and I wanted excitement. I worked on an Illinois farm as a man the year before the war. I wasn't discovered and thought I'd try my luck in the service."~Albert Cashier,…

“Estoy muy feliz!” (I am very happy.) My battle is over and it should never have happened. This is not an excuse but at the time, I was suffering from anxiety after coming back from the war. There were not enough resources for help and I fell into…

“It was my moral obligation [document my experiences]. God gave me that ink to last." ~Anthony Acavedo, Oral History Interview with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, October 13, 2010 Born in San Bernardino, California in 1924, Anthony…