Have you heard of these two Waco veterans?
by Sean Sutcliffe on 2020-11-13T09:09:00-06:00 | 0 CommentsLuis Diaz Cabrera
I have driven down Speight Avenue many, many times over the years, but it was not until a few years ago that I learned what that metal building is near the intersection with 23rd street. It was once the Cabrera Community Center.
Luis Diaz Cabrera, also written as Louis Cabrera, was born in Guadalajara, Mexico on September 20, 1919. His family later moved to Waco. He had to drop out of South Junior High School for two years because he got tuberculosis and could not get treatment at a sanitarium because he was not a U.S. citizen.
After two years of his mom caring for him, he returned to school but dropped out again to work at Providence Hospital. He later moved to Sherman and worked at St. Vincent Hospital.
He wanted to join the Army but could not because he was not a citizen. Finally, he was able to enlist on February 4, 1941. While serving with the 60th coast artillery on the Philippine islands, Cabrera was killed fighting the Japanese on January 10, 1942.
On January 10, 1971 the Cabrera Community Center was dedicated at 2225 Speight to serve as a branch of the Community Development Center for the South Waco section of Model Neighborhood.
Julian Ramirez
While researching another topic I found a newspaper reference to the Julian Ramirez Meeting Room at the South Waco Community Center on Speight. Who was Julian Ramirez?
Julian Ramirez was born in December 1920 and later graduated from Waco High School. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on December 13, 1941, six days after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor officially starting United States involvement in World War II.
Ramirez served in the 5th Air Force, 90th Bombardment Group, 319th Bombardment Squadron in the South Pacific as a B-24 gunner. In September 1943 he was credited with shooting down two enemy fighters during action over New Guinea. Soon after, the bomber on which he served sank an enemy cargo ship during action at Rabaul.
Sadly, on December 19, 1943, while flying home to spend Christmas with his mom and less than two week before his 23rd birthday, Staff Sgt. Julian M. Ramirez was killed when the bomber in which he was riding crashed into a hill north of San Francisco during fog. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Silver Star. His grave is located in the veterans’ section of Rosemound Cemetery.
In September 1975 the Julian Ramirez meeting room was dedicated at South Waco Community Center. While the room no longer exists, the significance of his service during the war, as well as that of other McLennan County men and women, does.
Bibliography and Further Reading
“Bags two Zeros”. Waco Tribune-Herald, 19 Sept 1943, Section II, p. 1
“Cabrera Center dedicated here in memory of World War II hero”. Waco News-Tribune, 11 Jan 1971, p. 4A
“Ceremony held to name room for WWII hero”. The Waco Citizen, 18 Sept 1975, p. 9.
“Louis D. Cabrera of Waco killed in Philippine battle”. Waco News-Tribune, 21 Jan 1942, p. 1
Louis Diaz Cabrera draft card. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men,
1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Men and women in the armed forces from McLennan County. 1946.
“Waco gunner helps sink cargo ship at Rabaul”. Waco News-Tribune, 14 Oct 1943, p. 1
“Waco hero coming home for Yule is killed in a crash”. Waco News-Tribune, 21 Dec 1943, p. 1
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