Alvaro G. Alvarado

Alvaro G. Alvarado was born on October 4th ,1924 and was from the little town of Alpine, Texas. He married Esther Dominguez who was from the neighboring town of Marfa, Texas. He worked on his grandfather's ranch as a boy.

Alvaro was drafted into the US Army in June of 1943. He was 18 and trained as a surgical technician. He was assigned to the 505th Port Medical Battalion asa combat medic. He served in England and France where he put his life on the line to save fallen soldiers.

He left New York on a British transport ship that took 29 days to cross the Atlantic to reach Liverpool, England. The ship had to zigzag to avoid German submarines. The British transport ship was heavily protected by an armada of American destroyers to ensure it's safety. The transport ship arrived in England with many other units and staged it's assault for June 6th 1944, D-Day. Alvaro's unit was ordered to land two days after D-Day onto the shores of Omaha Beach with orders to save American lives.

Alvaro spent three weeks on the shores of Normandy providing medical care and saving comrades lives. His unit was issued the Combat Medical Badge and two Bronze Stars for their heroic actions in Northern and Southern France. The CMB is one of the most coveted awards a medic can earn and is the ultimate "Portrait in Courage."

He was honorably discharged on March 2, 1946. Shortly thereafter, his entire family migrated to California and eventually settled in San Jose. Al and Esther are survived by their three children: Alvaro Jr., Linda and Tony.