CPL. US. Army Vicente Ojinaga 

Vicente R. Ojinaga enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 14, 1941. ¹ He served in the 200 Coast Artillery Battalion in World War II in the Asiatic Pacific Theatre of Operations as a crew member of a 3-inch anti-aircraft gun. ^{2, 3} On April 9, 1942, he was captured by the Japanese Army in the Philippines and survived the Bataan Death March. ² Ojinaga was held for three and a half years in prisoner-of-war camps in the Philippines and Japan. ^{2, 4} He recalled that the Filipino women would throw rice balls to the hungry prisoners and children would sometimes bring the water. ⁴ In 2009, he told the Santa Fe New Mexican of his experience at the prisoner-of-war camp, “We would talk in Spanish about matanzas and burriñates and all the other great food we had back home and when we woke up in the morning, we didn’t feel as hungry.” ⁴ On September 7, 1945, Ojinaga was liberated from the Osaka Main Camp, Chikko Osaka 34-135, and subsequently diagnosed with malnutrition. ⁵ Discharged on June 29, 1946, at Fort Sam Houston, he received the American Defense Service Ribbon with 1 Bronze Star, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Ribbon with 1 Bronze Star, the Philippine Defense Ribbon with 1 Bronze Star, the Good Conduct Medal, the Distinguished Unit Badge with two oak leaf clusters, the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and the POW Medal. He also received the Presidential Unit Citation with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Victory Ribbon, and earned seven overseas Service Bars. ^{2, 3}

Ojinaga was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico to Josefa and Jose Ojinaga. ² His parents had come from Mexico to work in the mines at Santa Rita. ⁴ He graduated from Hurley High School in 1937 and then worked as a carpenter for the Nevada Mining Corporation in Santa Rita. ^{4, 6} After the war, he attended New Mexico Western University in Silver City and graduated from the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1950. ^{2, 4} In his professional career, he worked for the State of New Mexico Tax and Revenue Department as Chief of Administrative Services and served as an income tax counselor for the elderly. ² He was minister of Eucharistic for the sick and elderly and treasurer for numerous community organizations. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Toastmasters, Elks, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, American Ex-Prisoners of War, and the Survivors of Bataan and Corregidor. ²

Ojinaga was an advocate for a memorial for Japanese-Americans interred during World War II. Regarding the internment, he remarked to the Albuquerque Tribune in 1999, “To me, that’s being racist. Why would they jail our own citizens?” It’s going to be a sad day if we don’t allow this marker.” ⁷