If you would like to meet and rub shoulders with true American heroes, make sure to attend the yearly Veterans Day ceremonies sponsored by the city of Aurora. Heroic women and men will be all around you, and if you are lucky, you will get to hear some of their incredible stories.
At the recent ceremony, I met World War II veteran Jenaro “Jerry” Cisneros. In some ways, his story was typical of soldiers from our Greatest Generation. But after visiting with him, I discovered his tale had some twists and turns that could make us think twice about how we sometimes treat our heroes.
Born in Mexico in 1926, his family moved to DePue, Illinois, when he was young so his dad could work at the zinc company there. He quit school at age 16 and moved to Chicago to live with his sister and to work.
Though he was not yet a citizen, Cisneros was drafted in 1944. He could have returned to Mexico at that time, or stayed and accept induction into the U.S. Army. He chose induction, and after basic training, was shipped through Scotland and England to the war in France and Germany.
Even though the end of the war was near, he remembered his unit engaging in street fighting, searching for snipers and supervising the handling of German SS prisoners. He also helped to build Bailey (pre-fabricated) bridges.
“Before I went into the service, I had experienced discrimination,” Cisneros said. “At times, I thought ‘what am I fighting for?’ My thoughts were conflicted.”
Some of the horrors he began to witness then also began to weigh upon his thoughts.
“We were the second wave to liberate concentration camps,” he said. “We saw bodies and the ovens at Dachau concentration camp, and witnessed the huge mass burials. People don’t appreciate this country until they see something like that.”
Cisneros worked as a combat engineer purifying water for U.S. troops as they became an occupational force, and also witnessed activities around the Nuremberg trials of war criminals. With other American soldiers of many nationalities, he became a U.S. citizen at a Bavarian town in 1945.
Discharged in 1946, he returned to DePue and then to Chicago. He met his wife Ramona, whom he married in 1950. They moved to Aurora that same year to begin their family, and in 1953, bought the house that he still lives in today. He began working for the CB&Q (which became the Burlington Northern) in Eola in 1955, retiring in 1985.
But Cisneros also remembered some of the darker times for Hispanics in post-war America.
“There was discrimination again when I returned, and I was disgusted,” he said. “There was discrimination in neighborhoods and in clubs. People petitioned that they didn’t want Mexicans in this neighborhood, but I didn’t confront them. I tried to help people everywhere and in any way I could.”
A strong-willed and still proud American, Cisneros rose above the problems and became extremely busy raising his six children and serving his church and community in many ways.
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He volunteered in all of his kids’ activities, including Scouting and boys’ baseball. He was involved at St. Joseph parish as an usher, school board member and homebound minister to the sick. He helped to provide transportation for priests, and helped to found the Guadalupana Society of St. Joseph in the 1960s. He has also been a member of the VFW, Knights of Columbus and Mexican-American Club. He has helped at Hesed House, and has interpreted for Hispanics regarding legal matters.
At the invitation of Marie Wilkinson, he served for many years as part of the Aurora Commission on Human Relations.
Cisneros tried to summarize his extraordinary life as a soldier and also as a family man and community servant.
“When you are young, you take things for granted,” he said. “When you see horrible things, as I did in the service, that snaps you out of it.
“We raised a family, and all of our kids turned out terrific. My wife (Ramona passed away in 2016) kept us all in our place, but in a loving way. Without wives and mothers, we’d be nothing. Every chance I got, I learned, and to learn, you have to get involved. And when it comes to God, I am a fanatic — first God, and then country, the U.S.A.”
Cisneros echoed the thoughts that must be common among veterans of our Greatest Generation.
“There is no other land like this one,” he said. “If you want something, it’s here, but you have to make sacrifices. We are so fortunate, and have more than we deserve.
“If I had everything to do again,” he said, “I’d do it all the same.”
Tom Strong is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.