José María Guerra: One man's life
December 23, 1922 - May 17, 2004
By María Eugenia Guerra
José María Guerra, a decorated Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, died peacefully at his home Monday, May 17, 2004 at 5:30 p.m.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Amanda Gutierrez de Guerra; his children, Sandra Irene Guerra, María Eugenia Guerra, José María (María) Guerra, Jr., Amanda Guerra (Clyde) Neal, and Melissa Leandra Guerra; grandchildren Monica Williams (Carroll) Dase, Lee Williams, George Joseph (Rosa Elia) Altgelt, Eddie Guerra, Sara Alicia Guerra, Pedro Armengol Guerra, Gabriela Guerra, and Angela Neal. He is also survived by great-grandchildren Gladys Aileen Guerra, Carolina Cristelle Guerra, Priscilla Beatriz Guerra, Elle Dase, and Emily Altgelt, and by his sister Irene J. Guerra and his brother Armengol Guerra, Jr. as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Mr. Guerra, the son of Pedro Armengol Guerra Aguirre and Leandra Castaño Guerra, was born December 23, 1922. He was predeceased by his sister Melida G. Coleman and his brothers Armando and Rolando Guerra.
He was a 1941 graduate of Martin High School and attended Laredo Junior College and Oklahoma State University. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in December 1942, completing flight cadet school in Oklahoma City and learning to fly in a closed cockpit, single prop Aeronca. He completed further flight and gunnery training at Lowry Air Field in Denver and at Laredo Air Field, learning to fly and fire from AT-6 trainers. At Tonopah, Nevada, he took B-24 training and became a member of the 10-man B-24 crew for the duration of his overseas service in World War II. Based in Tibenham, England with the 445th Bombardier Group of the 703rd Bombardier Squadron of the Eighth Air Force, which provided decisive air support for the Battle of the Bulge, Mr. Guerra with his crew completed 35 bombing missions over Germany. He flew his last mission over Madenburg on February 14, 1945. He was decorated with seven Air Medals and five Battle Stars for service in Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and the Battle of the Bulge. He also received a Presidential Unit Citation, gunner wings of the Army Air Corps, and the Good Conduct Medal. Of the 36 months he served in the Army Air Corps, 18 were in combat.
He returned to the United States via the Queen Mary, which had been retrofitted as a troop carrier, docking in New York April 12, 1945. He traveled by train back to Laredo, arriving first at the Laredo Street home of his future mother-in-law, María Benavides Gutierrez, to ask for her daughter's hand in marriage. He married Amanda Gutierrez on April 16, 1945.
With his brother Armengol and his father Armengol Guerra, Sr., Mr. Guerra established the Guerra Hardware Company at Lincoln and Salinas in 1946, a high profile mercantile in the downtown business community.
He devoted his life to family and community. He was an active member of American Legion Post No. 59, serving as Commander from 1956 to 1957. He served as President of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce from 1969 to 1970 and was one of a cadre of forward-thinking Laredo businessmen who spearheaded the effort to establish the revenue generating hotel/motel tax. He was a founder of the American Little League and was instrumental in the establishment of the League's playing field in South Laredo. An avid tennis player, Mr. Guerra frequented the courts at Laredo Junior College and later the Market Street Courts, playing often with his children and with his compadre Buddy Cantu.
Mr. Guerra was appointed to the Selective Service Committee by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967, serving as chair of the local draft board until 1976.
Upon the death of Amanda's twin Oscar Gutierrez in 1987, Mr. Guerra took the helm of the family ranching enterprises in Zapata and Jim Hogg counties, which he managed until his death.
Proud of his family origins in Guerrero Viejo and Los Ojuelos, he documented the history of the Guerra-Cañamar Family in the New World from 1602 forward. He was a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity of Laredo and Webb County and a member of St. Patrick's Church Parish.
