Citizen Soldiers from San Isidro, New Mexico,
Banegas Family Story
By Estevan B. Banegas, 1999

Steve, Pete and Don Banegas come home from the War. 
	One of my earliest childhood memories is Dad’s return home to 
New Mexico at the end of World War II in 1945.  I had been too young to 
recall his earlier departure in 1943 to join the War effort in Europe, 
but I can still remember clearly his return home more than fifty years 
ago.
	Waiting to greet my Dad "Tevano" at the family farm in San 
Isidro, just north of Las Cruces, was the large extended Banegas family 
plus an assortment of neighbors and friends.  The immediate family 
included Dad's aging parents, Don Estevan and Dona Margarita, along 
with his attractive and vocal sisters Angie, Inez, Velza, Corrine, Mela 
and Ella. 
	Dad's brother Pete was in the process of returning from his own 
Army tour in North Africa, Italy and France.  Younger brother Daniel 
had returned from the Army much earlier and was still at the hospital 
in Las Vegas, New Mexico. He had gone there to recover from the 
condition now known as "post war syndrome", a mental reaction to the 
War that ultimately changed his life forever.

Home is San Isidro, New Mexico
	You will not find San Isidro on any map, but you can find the 
small church that anchors this small community.   My vision of it is 
formed by rich memories shared by my many aunts about growing up in the 
Banegas household and the San Isidro community.   The church and 
surrounding community had been the center of their early family and 
social life.   For many decades the Banegas family farm home had been a 
very popular gathering spot for local residents.  As a small farming 
community that emerged within the larger Dona Ana Bend Colony, it pre-
dated the founding of Las Cruces.  A colony established by settlers 
that moved north along the Rio Grande in search of new land and a new 
life in the early 1800's.  At that time the area of Dona Ana was in 
Mexico, later becoming a US Territory and then a State.
	The family patriarch Manuel Banegas was among the early settlers 
that were granted land rights under to the Dona Ana Bend Colony Grant.  
The grant by the U.S. Government had recognized the rightful title to 
land settled when New Mexico was under Mexican rule.  The grants were 
later contested, forcing Don Manuel and other effected parties to take their 
legal claims all the way up to the US Supreme Court to confirm 
their legal rights to the land.  As a young man, my great-grandfather 
Manuel would have crossed the Rio Grande at El Paso Del Norte, now 
called Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas, and then traveled to settle 
in the new village of Dona Ana located on high ground above the 
meandering Rio Grande.  Working from their new home, the small group of 
settlers began the long task of harnessing the powerful river flowing 
below them.  Diverting its fresh water to new cropland that would feed 
their growing families.  First by hand with shovels and later with 
powerful horses and mules, they dug the first crude ditches that 
channeled fresh water away from the untamed river.  Their collective 
efforts provided them the irrigation water needed to farm rich bottom 
soil that had been deposited by the river over millions of years to 
create the Mesilla Valley.
	As a young settler Don Manuel devoted his energy to building a 
productive farm on land he cleared a few miles south of Dona Ana 
Village.  Over time, the Banegas family joined with other community 
families to build a church for San Isidro, the patron saint of farmers. 
The church was built on land donated by Don Manuel.  The farming 
community around the church would become known as San Isidro.
	Upon the death of Don Manuel and his wife Inez Tellez, the farm 
was inherited by sons Estevan, Donecio, and adapted son Isabel.  As a 
young boy, Isabel had been captured by Indians and later traded to Don 
Manuel.  Don Manuel had saved several boys and one girl in a similar 
manner.  The two sons and adapted sons had worked side by side with Don 
Manuel to dig new irrigation canals, plant shade trees along community 
roads and cultivate the family farm.  The only daughter Ruperta left 
the farm to marry Jim Achebach, a young German that owned a butcher 
shop in the town of Las Cruces.
	The house of Don Manuel by tradition went to his eldest son 
Estevan.  Located within view of San Isidro church on the road between 
Dona Ana and Las Cruces, the expanded house was a convenient stop for 
frequent visitors to the family and community.  The large pueblo style 
home was constructed of thick adobe walls, designed at a time that 
settlers still needed protection from the threat of surprise attacks by 
small wandering bands of Apache Indians.
	Don Estevan lived in the farm home for almost ninety years.  His 
first wife Katarina died of tuberculosis at a very young age along with 
her two young children.   His second wife, Margarita Vera, was raised 
in the ranching community of Winston, New Mexico.  She had moved there 
with her mother Juanita Vera as a child from Chihuahua, Mexico, along 
with her only brother Isabel Vera.  Don Estevan and Dona Margarita 
raised nine children and several foster children sent to them over the 
years for food and shelter.  The Banegas home became especially hectic 
in the late 1920's when their young daughters blossomed into attractive 
young ladies and began to attract young suitors.  The three brothers 
were also very popular and brought their girl friends to the farm for 
family gatherings.
	An apparent attraction to the Banegas farm was the "pisado", a 
strong homemade wine, produced from mission grapes grown in a long-
standing vineyard adjacent to the farmhouse.  The young, hearty wine 
was stored in gallon-size glass jars to be shared with visitors on 
special weekends and Holidays.  Don Estevan’s wine became even more 
popular during Prohibition.  Looking for ways to make money during the 
Depression, he converted his long farm equipment building into a dance 
hall.  During festive weekends the pisado was offered to ready buyers 
that needed to "lighten" their feet to enjoy a night of dancing.

The War comes to San Isidro	
	The events around World War II eventually would change the life 
of all Americans.  The families of San Isidro were no exemption. With 
the expressed pride of citizenship that is characteristic of first 
generation Americans, the three sons of Don Estevan joined the fight 
for their country.  Before the War they had all been active in the New 
Mexico National Guard.  As the Allied Forces in Europe needed more men, 
the nation's Nation Guard units were called into active duty.  The 
Citizen Soldiers made a quick transition from tranquil farm life in San 
Isidro to active duty on the front lines of Europe and North Africa.
	The War years were hard times for those in the family that stayed 
behind on the farm.  Young sisters and wives had to help aging parents 
to tend the crops in the fields and to feed the livestock in the barn. 
The weekend dances and the wine were put on hold until the boys came 
home.

The boys return to San Isidro
	Now in 1945, there was a renewed festive atmosphere as the now 
matured men returned to their families and homes.  All were anxious to 
recapture the good times lost during their absence. Most of the able young men 
in the community had served during the 
War and those that survived were now returning home. Uncle Pete had 
served in North Africa and then in the Allied Campaign in Italy, France 
and Germany.  Dad had been with an Airborne Infantry unit in France and 
Germany, with some time spent in an England hospital recovering from 
frostbite and asthma.  The cold winter of the Black Forest of Germany 
had not been kind to the foot soldiers that came from the warmer 
winters of southern New Mexico.
	Dad arrived at the family farm in San Isidro, dressed in his 
sharply pressed paratrooper uniform and carrying a metal ammunition box 
by its handle.  I held on to his strong hand as he got out of the car 
that had brought him from the railroad station.  We proudly walked with 
the small crowd to the house and into the dining room.  Dad's proud 
parents, his young sisters and other family and friends had all come to 
celebrate his safe return.

Trophies of war
	As everyone gathered around him, Dad hoisted me on the long table 
for a seat with a good view.  He then proceeded to open the green metal 
box for the curious onlookers.   It was the size of a school lunch box 
and held his “trophies of war”.  Slowly he pulled out its treasured 
contents, placing each on Grandma Margarita’s large wooden table.  As 
he displayed his "treasures of war", he told stories about each and how 
it had come into his possession -- “over there in the War”.  
	From his box came the 9-millimeter pistol captured from a German 
soldier and now belonging to my Brother Primo.  “He dared to storm the 
fox hole being defended by my squad”, Dad proudly claimed.  Then came a 
blue military medal and ribbon- the Purple Heart- delicately embossed 
with the profile of George Washington.  The medal was given to him 
while he was recovering in the English hospital.  It was awarded to him 
for the injuries he suffered while fighting with his infantry unit in 
Germany.  After displaying his shiny Combat Infantry Badge, out came an 
assortment of picture postcards, black and white photos and various 
souvenirs collected in Germany, France and England. 
	 When Dad died in 1971, one of the few items remaining in his 
collection was a picture taken by a street photographer in Marseilles, 
France.  The young, smiling American soldier is in uniform, walking 
proudly down the street among the newly liberated French citizens.  The 
other keepsake was a laced, hand-painted greeting card that Dad had 
sent to his mother for Mother’s Day in 1944.  Both the picture and the 
card had been saved by his mother and returned to him after her death.

From soldier to farmer
	After returning from the war, Dad made an energetic transition 
from dutiful soldier to farmer. He returned to his beloved profession, 
tackling the day-to-day challenge of building a farm business to 
support a growing family.  Before the War, Dad had made the decision to 
leave the family farm in San Isidro and start his own farm some twenty 
miles away in the community of Hatch.  Exactly one hundred years after 
his Grandfather Don Manuel had started his new farm in Dona Ana, Dad 
acquired his own new farm in the fertile Hatch Valley.  The US Bureau 
of Reclamation had recently expanded irrigation ditches and cleared new 
land alongside the river.  The cleared land was sub-divided into forty-
acre plots and new adobe homes were built and sold to young farmer 
families.  Some of the other families that settled into the new farm 
community were Hinohosa, Molina, Atensio and Avelusia.
	The extended family that lived on the Hatch farm included Dad, 
Tillie, my eight brothers and sisters, Grandfather Don Estevan who 
lived with us until his death at the age of 97, and Dad’s younger 
brother Daniel after his release from the hospital at Las Vegas, New 
Mexico.  My sisters included Minerva, Peggy (Margaret), Victoria and 
Edna-Mae.  The brothers were Primo, Patrick, James and Gary.  

Sharing memories of the War
	Dad's stories about “The War” were reserved for Friday and 
Saturday night visits with fellow veterans at the VFW Clubs in Hatch 
and the surrounding towns.  At that time the majority of the adult men 
in the community were veterans of World War I or World War II.  Cold 
Schlitz beer and the camaraderie of fellow veterans brought forth 
stories of the War that were told, and retold many times.  The ugly and 
bloody side of war was rarely revealed in their stories.   It was 
probably easier for them to remember the lighter side of their 
experiences as young men abroad, even among "war buddies" who had 
endured similar, bitter experiences while on the battlefield.  
	Dad never talked of the bitter side of war with my younger 
brothers and me.  He would occasionally share stories over war 
memorabilia he kept in his bedroom closet.  Displaying one of his war 
decorations or a photo, he would talk about his "buddies".  As he 
talked of a friend made and later lost, he deflected the pain with the 
boastful bravado of a proud infantryman.
	As I reflect on memories of my father and his War, now fifty 
years past, I am thankful that he shared his stories with us.  Because 
of his love of country and his pride in the military he influenced all 
of his sons to spend time in military service. Primo, Jimmy and I were 
in the US Marine Corps.  Pat and Gary took Dad's lead and went into the 
Army.
	With his "man-to-man" talks about his Army days, my father 
instilled in us a sense of the moral values expected of men in the 
military.  This knowledge and understanding became immensely valuable 
to each of us when we assumed our role as "Citizen Soldiers".




My War, my stuff
	I look at for the few remains of my own “trophies of war”.  
Pointing at a plastic photo cube collecting dust on a shelf, my wife 
Amanda asks, “Why do you still keep this?”   “That’s my stuff from 
Vietnam”, I respond, somewhat defensively.   We were married four years 
after my tour in Vietnam, saving her from hearing the anguished 
nightmares I frequently experience after by return.   Other than 
passing references to my serving as a Marine Officer in Vietnam, she 
and I have never really discussed it.
	In the photo cube is inserted a red and gold ribbon with a silver 
star, the Cross of Gallantry awarded to me by the Government of South 
Vietnam in August, 1965.  The black and white photos displayed are of 
me with men from my platoon. One shows me standing with Sergeant Perez, 
a Puerto Rican from New York City, holding between us a large red flag 
with a hammer and sickle.  Perez had recovered the flag from the jacket 
of a dead Viet Cong soldier.  Another snapshot is a view of a sandbag-
protected camp near the city of Qui Nhon.  I had been there several 
times for joint "search and destroy" operations with the US Army Green 
Beret unit operating out of the hillside camp.  
The pictures and the medal represent the only remains of my once 
treasured collection of war souvenirs from Vietnam.  The rest were lost 
sometime during our frequent household moves as “corporate nomads” when 
employed with the Swiss chemical firm Ciba-Geigy.  The collection of 
war souvenirs is not missed, as there is no son for the ritual “man to 
man” talk of war.  I think of writing of my experiences in Vietnam to 
share with our nephews, while praying that their generation will never 
see a war.

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Citizen Soldiers from San Isidro, Banegas Family Story

Published References:
"Our Heritage, Our People, Selections of the Mesilla Valley" by Ella 
Banegas Curry & Shan Nichols, 1974,Library of Congress catalog card 
number 74-18037.

"An Ethnohistory of Dona Ana: Hispanic Catholics vs Hispanic Methodists 
in the Village" by Mary Jane M. Garcia, NMSU Graduate School, 1986, 
Roseta Press, Las Cruces, NM.

"Las Cruces New Mexico, 1849-1999:Multicultural Crossroads" by Gordon 
Owens, 1999, Red Sky Publishing, Inc., Las Cruces, NM

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About the author: 
Estevan(Steve) Brown Banegas is the son of Estevan(Tevano)Vera Banegas, and the 
grandson of Estevan Tellez Banegas of San Isidro, Dona Ana, New Mexico  He 
resides with his wife Amanda Martin in Greensboro, North Carolina. 
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