Personal Account of an Undesirable:
The Unforgettable Story of
Corporal Tony Acevedo
Anthony "Tony" Acevedo U.S. Army portrait (courtesy of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Corporal Anthony C. Acevedo (July 31, 1924 - February 11, 2018) was a Mexican American who served as a U.S. Army medic during World War II. He was captured by German troops during the Battle of the Bulge and held as a prisoner of war (POW) in the Berga forced labor camp, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. While there, he kept a secret diary of his experiences, including a record of his fellow American soldiers’ deaths. In 2009, the US government recognized that the former Berga POWs had been forced laborers as well as prisoners of war. Anthony Acevedo became the first and only Mexican American to be registered on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Registry of Holocaust Survivors.
Information above provided by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Up to 500,000 Hispanic Americans (including 350,000 Mexican Americans and 53,000 Puerto Ricans) served during the Second World War. Exact numbers are difficult because, with the exception of the 65th Infantry Regiment from Puerto Rico, Hispanics were not segregated into separate units, as African Americans were. When war was declared on December 8, 1941, thousands of Hispanics were among those that rushed to enlist. Hispanics served with distinction throughout Europe, in the Pacific Theater, North Africa, the Aleutians and the Mediterranean. Among other honors earned, thirteen Medals of Honor were awarded to Hispanics for service during WWII.
While the war raged on and Hispanics fought overseas, thousands of Hispanic men and women back home in the United States worked on railroads, in mines, shipyard and airplane factories and as crucial agricultural labor. A national agricultural labor shortage jeopardized the war effort, so the US government established the Bracero Program, which permitted millions of Mexican men to work legally in the United States on short-term labor contracts. These agreements with Mexico not only addressed the national labor shortage during WWII but they were also meant to make right the previous Depression-Era deportations that unjustly targeted Mexican Americans who were U.S. citizens.
One Mexican American who was unjustly deported to Mexico in 1937, despite the fact that he had been born in California and was an American citizen, was a young man named Anthony "Tony" Acevedo. After the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, seventeen year old Tony returned to the United States and was inducted into the U.S. Army, with a letter of consent from his father since Tony was underage. He was shipped out to Europe and participated in the Battle of the Bulge, where he and other American soldiers were captured and held prisoner by the Nazis. An Army medic, Tony did whatever it took to survive while helping those around him as best he could. He also kept a secret journal while he was a prisoner, which later proved critical in documenting the deaths and atrocities inside the Nazi slave labor camp he was held in. Tony would go on to become the first and only Mexican-American ever recognized as a Holocaust survivor.
Tony's story, hidden history that has remained long forgotten, is the story of a Hispanic American who suffered unimaginable horrors as a prisoner of war & a nation that didn't do enough to honor his heroism.
For the rest of Tony's story, please check out the audio link provided for EPISODE TWENTY-FOUR (WELCOME TO SEASON 3!) of our podcast, Hidden History: An Odyssey Through Time
LISTEN NOW: Personal Account of an Undesirable: The Unforgettable Story of Corporal Tony Acevedo
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Images and Documents
Francisco Acevedo wrote this letter consenting for his son Tony, a U.S. citizen, to join the U.S. Army & receive training as a medic (courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Tony and friends before he was shipped out to Europe, c. 1943 (courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Tony Acevedo in his Army uniform, circa 1943-44 (courtesy of the National WWII Museum).
Tony & his father Francisco, date unknown (courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Tony with governor of Durango, Mexico, date unknown. Although he was born in California, Tony was forced to spend his youth in Durango (courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Tony Acevedo during U.S. Army medic training, 1943 (courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Tony in his Army uniform, c. 1943 (courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Tony in his Army uniform, c. 1943-44 (courtesy of the National WWII Museum).
Tony as a member of the U.S. Army in France, weeks before his capture during the Battle of the Bulge, 1944 (courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
American medics treat 63 American POWs who survived the death march from the Berga concentration camp (a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp) & were liberated by soldiers of the 357th Infantry Regiment, April-May 1945. Tony also participated in the death march but he is not pictured here (courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
While at Stalag IX-B, Tony was given this blank diary, which he managed to keep after he was sent to the Berga concentration camp, 1945 (courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
In his diary, Tony secretly kept a “medical record,” listing the condition of his fellow soldiers and often, their deaths (courtesy of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum).
Drawings by Acevedo in the diary he kept as a prisoner. Tony was a gifted artist, a skill he inherited from his father. He would later use his artistic talent as an design engineer (courtesy of USHMM).
Tony's first marriage to Amparo Martinez, February 1946. Together they had four children: Tony Jr., Rebecca, Fernando and Ernesto. Tony and his wife later divorced (courtesy of USHMM).
Marriage license for Anthony Acevedo and Amparo Martinez, 1946 (courtesy of familysearch.org).
Tony Acevedo with his display of awards at Pasadena, California courthouse honoring veterans, 2010.
Tony Acevedo kept his medic's band, cross and prayer book after the war. He donated the items to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010.
Tony with his war diary at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. He spent his final years preaching a message of peace and love: "You only live once. Let's keep trucking."
Tony toured the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2010. He broke down after stepping into this train car, saying it brought back memories of being shipped to Berga concentration camp.
From left to right Fernando Acevedo, Ernesto Acevedo and Rebecca Acevedo attend the burial service of their father, WWII veteran Army medic Anthony "Tony" Acevedo, March 8, 2018 (courtesy of The Press-EnterpriseSCNG).
Family members carry the casket of Anthony "Tony" Acevedo, after his funeral services at Transformation Calvary in Rancho Cucamonga, California, March 8, 2018 (courtesy of The Press-EnterpriseSCNG).
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John I love history, this history story about Tony was great, John you put a lot of work and time,great job, as for Tony he was a Hero.