When New Mexico Native Joseph Rodriguez set sail from New York harbor bound for Europe to fight in World War II, he had no idea where he was headed. He only knows they were traveling east.

“We didn’t know nada,” he said, laughing. “When I got on, I went straight to the back

of the ship and saw the Statue of Liberty and I waved at her.”

Once the ship landed in England, they took a first-class train to Southampton, England, to set sail across the English Channel to France. Europe was a far cry from his humble beginnings in Santa Fe, N.M., where he grew up during the Depression. His family had 5 children, little money, but with their garden and livestock, they never went hungry.

Born May 2, 1926, Mr. Rodriguez lived a simple life in his hometown, where he worked odd jobs to make a living. But his routine would end abruptly after the Japanese attack on American troops in Hawaii.

He vividly remembers the day he heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor on the radio, a day that set into motion the events that would send Mr. Rodriguez and all of his brothers to war. He remembered the reaction of his mother, who had a feeling her sons would be called up in the wake of Pearl Harbor. As soon as this mother heard the announcement on the radio, she cried, “Ahi van mis hijos a la Guerra!”(“There go my sons to war!”)

His brothers enlisted, and the Marines were soon knocking on his door to recruit him. His mother begged him not to go, and he acquiesced. But soon, he would be drafted and was inducted into service on June 1944.

He was sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, for anti-aircraft training for six months but he was transferred to Fort Maxey, Texas, for infantry training. From there, newly trained Pvt. Rodriguez was shipped to eastern France on the German border. The infantry was first in line at battle, and he remembers the talk a Commander gave them before their first day of engagement.

“He put us in gymnasium and told us ‘I don’t know how much battle experience or training you have, but some of you are not going to come back, some of you are going to be wounded, some of you will come back fine, but you’re going to the front lines tomorrow morning’ ” Mr. Rodriguez recalls. “I will never forget those words.”

Pvt. Rodriguez would serve in Company I, 310^th Infantry, 78th Division - known as

“Lightning Division”. His duties as an infantryman during the war included manning a bazooka and various front-line duties against the German enemy troops. His division was soon assigned to cross the Remagen Railroad Bridge, the only bridge left standing, to cross the Rhine River. Crossing the bridge would take his division deep into enemy territory, where Germans stood waiting for them just on the other side. On March 7, 1945, they received their orders.

“They told us to count to 10 and follow the guy before us into the bridge tunnel,” he said. “I went in there with my heart in my hands.”

Bombs and shells fell all around him, but he managed to make it across uninjured, where he waited for another soldier and others to follow.

“As soon as we crossed, tanks and trucks from all over came in,” he said. His Division continued to advance into Germany. On April 10, 1945, he abruptly awakened by the impact of shrapnel hitting his face. Later that morning, he suffered a flesh wound on the top is his leg, and that afternoon his foot was almost blown off with a mortar shell. Even though he was wounded three times in the same day, he bears no visible scars and considers himself fortunate to have survived.

“I don’t call it luck. I call it blessed,” he said.  “All the people in Santa Fe were praying, much like we are now,” He said, referring to American troops fighting terrorism overseas today.

After lying in the field for hours waiting for treatment, he was given morphine and shuttled to a hospital in Paris, later to Birmingham General Hospital in Van Nuys, California to heal. From California, he traveled home se his family in Santa Fe on a 30-day furlough.

He remembers his family’s joy at the sight of him. His doctor made travel arrangements for him, and once he arrived in Santa Fe around midnight, he took a cab to his house. Cars were a rare sight on his street, especially at midnight, and he remembers his mother standing in the doorway of their house shielding her eyes from the headlights to see who was in the cab. After the initial tears and hugs, she took him in and started cooking to feed him after his long trip.

One year after being wounded in battle, he was honorably discharged from duty in May 1946, having attained the rank of Pvt. 1^st Class. He received several medals and honors for his heroism in battle, including the Presidential Unit Citation for being one of the first solders to cross the Rhine River, the Purple Heart for being wounded in action, and the Bronze Star for valor during front line duty. Still medals don’t make up for the horror he experienced in battle, he said.

“Someone once said ‘War is Hell,’ which is true, he said”. “But the thing about war is that it ends. Hell never ends.”

Upon this return from the war, he secured a job as postal clerk for the U.S. Post Office. He and he wife, Margaret Trujillo, would have eight children together -four boys and four girls. Two of his sons have since passed away.

Now living in the town where he grew up – he attended Our Lady of Guadalupe School as a boy and later Harrington High School and St Michael’s College – Mr. Rodriguez enjoys his retirement in Santa Fe.

He points out how important it is for his story and others like it be told.

“Freedom isn’t free,” he said, “Every ounce of blood pays for it.”