Rene G. - Texas

"What greater aspiration and challenge are there for a mother than the hope of raising a great son or daughter?"

Rose Kennedy

Rene is the second oldest in a family of 14 children. He and his family worked hard through difficult life circumstances. But through it all, they worked together. Rene's only mission was to help his family, and that mission took him all the way across the world. 

~ Claire

I had a total of fourteen siblings. My sister Francis was the first one born in our family. We call her Frankie. Then the first boy was born next. His name was Eliodoro. He passed away the same day he was born.

Then I was next. Francis was three years older than me.

Next was Arnulfo, Arnold, Sylvia and Armando.

David was born after Armando. He passed away when he was about one year old. I was about twelve years old; I was just barely getting into my teen years. It was a difficult time. We were living in a very, very small house. My dad could barely find work, and the house was always cold. I think that’s one of the reasons why David caught pneumonia, because we didn’t have any heat in the house. At that time all I wanted was heat. So I said to myself, “Whatever it takes to maintain a good house and be able to have all that, that’s what I’m going to do.” David’s passing was very difficult on my mother. He was the second of the children that had passed away. I really don’t remember her coping with it. She was a strong woman who realized and knew that she still had other children to take care of. Even if she was grieving, which I could see, a lot of times she wouldn’t show it.

Eliazar was born next, then Linda, Mary, Eddie, Melissa Jean (she also was born and died on the same day), and finally Jessie.

We lived in a very, very small house. It was about as big as a sitting room. It was just a square house, but actually it was just a room, that’s it. All the boys slept together and all the girls slept together on the floor. You would just grab blankets because if it got cold and you didn’t have a blanket it was tough luck.

There was a kitchen area where my mom would cook, but it was just a kerosene stove and that was it. We didn’t have indoor plumbing. We always had to go to the pump outside to get water. It was one of the big old pumps and we had to go out there to get all the water that we needed. We all took turns going to get the water. Whoever Mom or Dad told to go get water went to go get it. There were no specific chores for us; we just did it all. If our parents told us to do something, we did it.

I was around 12 years old when my dad decided that he wanted to follow the crops. He bought an old ’53 GMC two and a half ton truck, which was an old battery-delivery truck. He converted that and took all of the shelving out of it, which left just the box. That was our mode of transportation from state to state. We travelled from Texas to just about any state with the whole family in the back of that truck. Wherever the work was, that’s where we would end up. We would do field work: picking strawberries, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, anything.

The kids did all that work also, with my parents. We were always being pulled out of school because we traveled and did all of that migrant work with my parents. When we got to a certain place, there would be living quarters, or barracks, there that the farmers would put up for the workers to live in, and that’s where we stayed. From town to town, we went to a different school. We learned never to make friends with anybody because we were going to be gone in a few months. We went immediately from school to grab something to eat, then to go work in the fields until 8:00 at night or as long as there was daylight. We did that from the time I was 12 until I was about 16, maybe 17. I left school when I was in 10^th grade. I just dropped out. I helped to bring in some money for the family. I felt it was a responsibility. I thought, “Why go to school when I can work all day and help my dad?” So that’s what I did.

The very first time I left home was when I enlisted into the Army. I had just turned 18. I enlisted for the pay, for the money. I knew that if I enlisted and was in the Army, whatever money I earned I could send back home, which is what I did for the three years I was there. I wasn’t really nervous to enlist; I just went up there and did it. Of course, that was during the Vietnam era, so I had a feeling that I might be going there.

When I left for the Army was my first time I had ever got on a plane. Now that was nerve-wracking! I thought the plane could come down at any minute! I got to Fort Bliss for basic training, and that was an eye-opening experience when I got to the camp. I remember that I actually thought that I was dreaming because I had never had a bed of my own with my own sheets, my own blanket, my own pillow. I thought, “Man, this is something else! I’ve got to be dreaming! Look at this, it’s all mine!” We got three hot meals a day. I couldn’t believe that! I thought that was good, until the next day when we had to get up – it wasn’t a dream after that! It was training. The drill instructors hollered at you from the time you got up until the time you went to bed. But it was an experience that I won’t forget because it was my first time away by myself.

I was in Vietnam for three years. I was assigned as the driver for the Pay Master, who was in charge of finances. Even though the troops were up in the de-militarized zone, they had to get paid. I would take the Pay Master from the base camp, where we were, up into the battlefield to pay the guys. We always had to drive in convoy with all the gunships and everything. I made several trips up into the DMZ, but one particular day I had an omen; I had a feeling something was going to happen. That morning, when I was preparing my Jeep with the guns and everything, my staff sergeant comes out. Then we started the convoy and headed up into the DMZ. Like I said, I had this feeling. And, sure enough, we got attacked. As soon as the first mortar round hit, I guess I lost it. They tell you in training, of course, that you should never leave your position. Well, I did. I just pulled out and sped on up to the head of the line, which was a crazy thing to do. The Major that I had with me was freaked out also. I think he was grateful. He didn’t know what to do or say. Several ships were damaged and a couple of guys were killed. I knew them just by name. It was a horrible experience. Part of the deal was that even though we had gunships and everything, you felt responsible for whatever happened. It was just a bad experience. But I made it through there. We got up there and paid the guys, and then the Major flew back on a helicopter. He said, “I’m not driving with you. You get back whenever you can.” I thought I was going to get disciplined, that I was going to be court-marshaled, because I did something wrong.

I got back, and the Major’s plan was to take me off that Jeep. He didn’t want me as a driver anymore. He found me a position to stay in the back, in the finance office. He basically made me a clerk. I didn’t know what I was doing, but as long as I didn’t have to go into the battlefield, I was happy.

While I was in the Army, I lived on six dollars a month. Six dollars was all I needed. That’s all I kept; everything else was sent home. I wrote back and forth with my mother. Like any mother, she was worried about me while I was in Vietnam, but I just wanted to be sending money home.

Some of the happiest times that I can remember growing up were just playing with my brothers and sisters. I miss that time. We would just go out and play and be rambunctious. It was just a happy time even though our lifestyle was hard.

But I learned from my mom to be helpful, to be nice and respectful. That was drilled into us, to constantly respect our elders no matter what. And I learned about hard work from my dad. If you want something, you’ve got to work for it.