The Valley Goes to War

To call Sam Fordyce a small Rio Grande Valley town may have been an overstatement. It was located near La Joya, and in late 1941 it wasn't much more than a collection of houses spawned by the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railroad. But it did have a rodeo arena. "My dad was putting on a rodeo there and I was riding in that rodeo," recalls Valley rancher Frank Yturria. "They interrupted the rodeo to announce that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor." It was Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, a day that shook the nation. "I went back to school on Monday morning and the entire class went into the auditorium. It was explained to us that we were at war." Such news had a profound impact on the Valley. But the Valley would have an equally profound effect on America's war effort...The Monitor