De La Cruz honors Alice WWII veteran Francisco Ybanez near 103rd birthday

Francisco Ybanez’s story reaches across generations in Alice, where a World War II veteran who was born near George West on Sept. 28, 1922, has become a living link to South Texas history. Rep. Monica De La Cruz honored Ybanez as he approached his 103rd birthday, recognizing a life that carried him from local roots to the Pacific theater and back to the community where he raised his family.

De La Cruz first placed Ybanez’s service into the Congressional Record on Sept. 25, 2024, when she said he was almost 102 years old. In that tribute, she noted that Ybanez joined the Civilian Conservation Corps before the war, then enlisted in 1942 at Fort Sam Houston. He served as a marksman, rifleman and AAA auto weapons crewman with the 601st, and fought in the Philippines and Okinawa.

His military record included the Asiatic Pacific Medal with two Bronze Stars, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with two Bronze Stars and the World War II Victory Medal. Those honors matter far beyond ceremony in Jim Wells County, where military service has shaped family histories for decades and where fewer and fewer World War II veterans remain to tell their own stories.

De La Cruz returned to Alice on Jan. 30, 2026, for a Congressional Record ceremony honoring Ybanez and also toured Edelen Farms, the second-generation family operation run by Andrew and Kaylyn Edelen. The visit tied Ybanez’s wartime service to the present-day life of the county, where farms, families and veterans’ memories continue to define the local landscape.

KRIS 6 reported that Ybanez was drafted a year after the United States entered World War II and came home in 1946. After the war, he married and built his life in Alice. His daughter, Norma Alvarez, said he was a quiet man who did not speak much about the war until later in life, a reminder of how much personal history can remain unspoken until a community makes space to hear it.

That urgency is sharpened by the numbers. The National WWII Museum says fewer than 0.5% of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II are still living. In Alice, honoring Francisco Ybanez near his 103rd birthday was more than a salute to one veteran. It was an act of preserving memory before the generation that carried the war home is gone.