AUSTIN, Texas— Today, Texas Land Commissioner and Veterans Land Board (VLB) Chairwoman Dawn Buckingham, M.D., is proud to introduce the next installment of the series highlighting the VLB's Voices of Veterans oral history program. This week, we highlight the service of Staff Sergeant Rhonda Garza who served in the U.S. Air Force.
Garza is a native Texan born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas. She was active in high school, playing tennis and participating in student council. She said, “The military wasn’t a thing until I got out of high school.” After she graduated, she eventually moved to Austin, Texas, where her mother had relocated and remarried.
She said that she was drawn to the military because she “got tired of working these little piddly jobs and wanted to travel all over the world […] I actually went to all of the recruiters, from the Coast Guard to the Navy to the Marines, and did my tests. I narrowed it down to the Marines or the Air Force. Everybody said, ‘Go to the Air Force.’” She laughed when she recalled how she left the final decision up to fate. “I flipped a coin, and it was for the Air Force. So that’s where I went.”
Garza attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. She joked that it was “not her favorite place” while doing her basic training there. However, she gave herself a dose of tough love, reminding herself that this was what she “had signed up for” and got over this first hurdle. She also attended technical school at Lackland and enjoyed learning alongside Navy recruits.
She had only been in the military for about five months and was expecting to join the reserves and take a job at Best Buy when the 9/11 terror attacks occurred. Garza remembered how she was travelling for work that day to San Antonio, listening to a friend’s new six-CD changer, and had no idea what was unfolding in New York City since the radio wasn't being used. When she arrived at a hotel, she said, “We were going down an escalator in the hotel and we saw a plane hit one of the towers on a big screen television in the restaurant. I turned around and said, ‘I’m pretty sure I’m gonna have to leave you guys […] that doesn’t look like it was an accident.’” She was called into Lackland Air Force Base within the week.
While serving in Indiana, she enjoyed working with children from across the country who were a part of the Civil Air Patrol. She said it was fun to see kids learn survival and aviation skills “back when kids went outside.”
Garza helped curate meals for the children and recalled, “I actually got to make them enchiladas, and a lot of them had never had enchiladas before. They were like, ‘What is this?’ I told them “Enchiladas!” They go, ‘Oh my god, this is so good!’ That was super fun.” Being able to experience the beauty of Hawaii was also a highlight for Garza, who didn’t serve in combat roles but traveled across the country, gaining invaluable experience as she helped support Americans and our troops abroad.
She also made friends for life with whom she still keeps in touch. She said her reserve group went the extra mile to support her while on assignment. Garza explained, “I would stay at lodging, and they were like, ‘Come and stay with us!’ and their families, because it was just me. I didn’t have any kids or a husband. I didn’t even have a pet. I would alternate between two or three of my friends, and we would have family dinners. I would be included as part of the family. That was always my favorite […] They always took care of me.”
As a woman in the military, Garza said she loved serving in the Air Force but had to learn how to advocate for herself, and she has passed this knowledge down. She said, “My best friend’s daughter calls me Tia because I’ve been in her life since she was born. She just graduated high school, so she’s just getting out into the workforce and learning about life. I told her, ‘Teach yourself everything you can teach yourself, and if someone wants to teach you something, learn it […] don’t sit in the back and let everyone do the work for you. You get up and learn. Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself.”
To listen to Staff Sergeant Rhonda Garza tell her story, click the button below:
Staff Sergeant Rhonda Garza's Story
RELATED: Voices of Veterans: Technical Sergeant John Parra Shares His Story of Service in the U.S. Air Force
RELATED:Voices of Veterans: Maj. Rosa Kissling Shares Her Story of Her Service in the U.S. Air Force
Veterans can email VoicesofVeterans@glo.texas.gov to tell their stories. Please note that the Veteran must be a resident of Texas at the time of their interview.
Voices of Veterans is a state agency's first Veteran oral history program. It records the stories of Texas Veterans through their time in service and after returning home from combat.
The VLB records interviews with Veterans over the phone or in person. Their interviews are then permanently archived in the Office of Veterans Records at the GLO, where they join the historical documents of other Texas heroes such as Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and William Barret Travis.
Veterans' interviews are also available to researchers, historians, genealogists, and the public. These precious records inspire future generations and remind us of our Veterans' sacrifices.
To listen to the over 500 archived stories of Veterans documented through the GLO's Voices of Veterans oral history program, click the button below:
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Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, M.D., brings a lifetime of experience to the Texas General Land Office (GLO). In 2016, she became the first Republican elected to the Texas State Senate from Travis County and the first woman to represent Texas Senate District 24. She made history again in 2022, winning a statewide election to become our state’s first female Land Commissioner.