WWII trials recalled
By Todd G. Dickson, Las Cruces Bulletin
July 29, 2011
Like many World War II veterans, 87-year-old Florentino Castillo hasn’t talked much about his war experiences. More than 60 years after he entered battle, the memories are still hard for him to describe.
But Castillo’s family want his story to be known as the Silver Star veterans now wages another silent battle, this time with lung cancer.
Born in Texas and raised in New Mexico, Castillo was 18 when drafted in to the Army in 1942.
As a member of an artillery platoon, he wasn’t among those who had to secure the beach in Normandy, France, but he arrived soon after as part of the 150,000 Allied soldiers who took part in the early June 1944 invasion. In one of the few times he’s talked about the war, Castillo told his children about seeing bodies of American soldiers floating all around his landing craft. He and his fellow soldiers had to move bodies out of the way to land ashore.
Early in the fighting, among the hedgerows of the French countryside, Castillo, whom his fellow soldiers nicknamed “baby” for his young age and youthful appearance, would face the most frightening experience of his life.
Pinned down by sniper fire, he was among a small group of soldiers who went out to bring the sniper down. As they neared the area where the sniper fire was coming from, Castillo said he spotted a little, black-and-white dog. Castillo credits the dog for saving his life, because it showed him where the German sniper was in the trees.
“I fired a shot and ran like hell,” Castillo said.
Castillo didn’t run far and returned to fire five more shots at the sniper, one of them killing the German officer. This led to the surrender of the other German soldiers under the dead officer’s command.
For his actions, Castillo was awarded a Silver Star in the field by Gen. Dwight Eisenhower. For Castillo, the ceremony was not so much memorable for getting the medal from the supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe, but because he got to enjoy coffee and doughnuts.
It would be one of the few moments of pleasure for Castillo as he figures he went all over central Europe fighting on the front lines until the final surrender of Germany in May 1945. Everywhere he went, there was death and destruction.
“It’s hard to talk about,” Castillo said, “all I went through and what I saw.”
His daughters, Gloria Hernandez and Terry Apodaca, said their father has told them about he and other soldiers having to eat their k-rations huddled behind the carcass of a bloated, dead cow, as a precaution against sniper fire.
The happiest moment for Castillo was getting word that the war had ended and he could go home, completing three years and 11 months of military service.
Castillo does become emotional recalling his homecoming Nov. 18, 1945. After arriving in Hatch by bus, he returned to his parent’s home at night. Castillo’s eyes well with tears as he remembers the scene and has to pause to compose himself.
From a large family, Castillo and was one of five brothers who all went to war and who all made it home.
After his return, he reunited with his high school sweetheart and they married. Besides his daughters, Castillo and his wife Susie also raised three sons – Danny, Michael and Bobby. After his return, Castillo went back into the family business of growing chile and cotton.
A member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1208, Castillo was among the first group of to take an Honor Flight to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
“He’ll say he’s not a hero,” Apodaca said. “He is a hero in our eyes.”
