Trinidad L. Macias, was born in San Antonio on May 27, 1928. In October of1950, Macias joined the U.S. Army where he learned about working with communication radios and telegraphs. He was sent to Korea, where he was stationed on the front line and watched many die. In the front line, you were getting nine points, and you step back and get eight points, and another back 7, 5, 4, 3 way back there. So I said, "I'll take my chance. I wanna get the hell out of here." Nine points a month, so I stayed there nine months and I completed my 36 point rotation. And I moved out of there.
(Interviewer: Jennifer Macias, Palo Alto College Student, Spring 2003)
Roscoe Warren Thompson was born on April 15, 1930, in Americus, Georgia. When his three oldest brothers went off to World War II, Roscoe was forced to quit school. He had several other odd jobs before joining the Navy at age 18. He served in the Navy during the Korean War and later settled in Texas where he met his fiancee, Margie Ann Poteet.
Some of those people (Koreans) would try to sell you liquor. You could hang a pair of your drawers down there and they'd put the liquor bottle in'em and you'd drag it up. They told us not to do it cause they had an ordinance that the liquor people were puttin' out and sure enough it killed a couple of them guys on my ship. I was aimin' to get one and somebody yanked it out of my hand--I was just lucky, I guess.
(Interviewer: Samantha L. Davis, Palo Alto College Student, Spring 2003)
