Barrera was born in
San Antonio, Texas, on January 30, 1927. He attended
St. Mary's University of San Antonio. After graduation Barrera signed up for the US Army during
WW2 and was assigned to the
6th Infantry division, being shipped to the
Philippines where he shortly served before the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, then his unit was transferred to
Korea to hunt for Japanese resistance and inform Japanese civilians in Korea that the war was over and to repatriate them back to Japan. He lost a finger during his time in Korea. Under Governor John Connally, he served as
secretary of state of Texas from 1968 to 1969. == References ==