The sights, sounds and smells of traditional Mexican dancing, singing and food filled the air at the U.S. Army Operational Test Command as Soldiers, Department of Army civilians and contractors gathered to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at West Fort Hood Oct. 6.

Guest speaker Raul Villaronga, former USAOTC director and former Killeen mayor, shared his experiences that highlighted this year’s theme, “Heritage, Diversity, Integrity and Honor: the Renewed Hope of America.”

Saying he was honored to be asked to return to his former place of duty, Villaronga pointed out that when he was at OTC “it was called TCATA (TRADOC Combined Arms Test Activity) and I was the director of instrumentation. A lot has changed since then.”

Villaronga said that he breaks down his life into four phases: prior to college, during college, after college and after the Army (retirement).

“All I can say,” he said, “is that I never did the same thing twice, and I wouldn’t trade any of it for anything.”

Born on April Fool’s Day in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Villaronga said his parents pushed him early on to get an education.

“My mother wanted me to be a priest,” he chuckled, “and while I enjoyed the experience of being educated by the Jesuits, I realized quickly that being a priest wasn’t my calling; I wanted to be an engineer.”

His high school counselor, whose son attended Texas A&M University at the time, influenced Villaronga to go to A&M, “but he never told me it wasn’t co-ed,” Villaronga said. “But I joined the Corps, shaved my head and had all my privileges taken away from me.

“It was quite a shock,” he continued as several in the OTC audience shouted Aggie war whoops, “and it was also the first time I learned about prejudice. A&M was lily-white in the late nineteen-fifties, and they only had two categories for Hispanics: Mexican and Spanish. They didn’t quite know what to do with a Puerto Rican.”

When Villaronga graduated in 1959 and was commissioned as an infantry second lieutenant, he found diversity hadn’t made its way to the Army, either. “At my new unit, all the Hispanic Soldiers were in one company – the Recon Company,” he said.

But his attention was quickly drawn to a Special Forces recruitment poster, so Villaronga applied and was accepted. “They didn’t quite know what to do with a Puerto Rican second lieutenant,” he said, “but I ended up being in the first group that went to Panama.”

After two tours in Vietnam and serving as commander, 13th Corps Support Command (COSCOM), which is now Fort Hood’s 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), Villaronga retired in Killeen in 1985.

He worked his way through several civilian jobs, to include math and computer science instructor at Central Texas College, a private consulting firm engineer and a defense department consultant, before being hired by the Child Support Enforcement Division of the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

“And then someone, and I don’t remember who, suggested I run for mayor of Killeen,” Villaronga said. “So I did and ended up serving three terms. I was the first Puerto Rican to be elected mayor of a Texas city.”

Since then, he has served as a Killeen city juvenile judge and is active in the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“I guess the point I really want to make today is that you may never get the same opportunity twice,” Villaronga said. “If obstacles get in your way, don’t give up or else you will lose.”

Villaronga introduced his wife, the former Julia Bush, “who is the most important thing in my life,” he said. “Without her, I wouldn’t have accomplished half the things I did in my life.”

Entertainment was provided by the Killeen LULAC Council 4535 Ballet Folklorico Alegria, whose members sang and danced to songs from the Mexican states of Chiapas, Vera Cruz, Yucatan, Jalisco, Aguas Calientes and Chihuahua. Ethnic dishes and beverages from Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Argentina were served by OTC employees in the command’s Heritage Room.