TEXAS AGGIES       GO TO WAR

William M. Peña, Class of 1942

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Born February 10, 1919 ● Passed away February 10, 2018

Scars of War and Steadfast Determination

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Willie Peña grew up in South Texas near the Texas and Mexico border. He had always enjoyed drawing, and decided to attend A&M and major in architecture at the encouragement of his older brother. Upon graduation from A&M, events began to move rapidly. He graduated on a Friday, was commissioned in the U.S. Army on Saturday, and reported to active duty at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio on Sunday. Peña was transferred to Europe in August 1944 and, by November, was with the advance group pushing towards the Ardennes on the eve of the Battle of the Bulge. As the Battle dragged on, Peña’s battalion took heavy losses and was down to a company size unit. On March 4, 1944, while repairing a broken communications line, Peña stepped on a land mine. The detonation resulted in the loss of his left foot and ankle. Peña spent two grueling years in hospitals recovering from his devastating wounds. But he did prevail, and, in 1947, returned to A&M to finish an additional year of studies. Refusing to be limited in any way by his war injury, Peña proceeded to become one of the nation’s leading architects as a founding member of CRS. In time, CRS grew from four original partners to over 3,000 employees in 32 offices around the world.

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