José Doroteo Arango Arámbula, better known as General Pancho Villa, is a true legend in the history of the Mexican Revolution and a person whom many Mexicans hold dear in their heart for the war he fought on behalf of the poor.

What some members of the community do not know is that the mythical hero Pancho Villa has connections to Hayward and the East Bay.

Pancho Villa is known to Mexicans as one of the main leaders of the Mexican Revolution, which aimed to defeat the then president of Mexico, Victoriano Huerta.

His grandson, Raul Nava-Villa was born and raised in Union City California and now lives in the city of Pleasanton, where he hopes to inspire Mexican-Americans with the story of his family, saying the overall message of what his grandfather stood for is still very present today.

“Pancho Villa knew that his destiny was to make a difference in Mexico,” Nava-Villa said, referring to Pancho Villa’s desire to change their oppressive economic situation and expressed the similarity with the issues affecting Latinos in the United States today.

“He was more concerned with the well-being of others,” said Nava-Villa. “He was someone the people could trust and they knew he would not disappoint them.”

Nava-Villa recently learned of his descendance when his father Ernesto Nava confessed he was the grandson of Pancho Villa, after keeping the secret for over 70 years because his mother forbade him to tell people who his father was, fearful he might be kidnapped or assassinated by enemies of Villa.

Nava was born in Mexico but was brought to America by his mother at the age of two years, settling in different parts of the United States and eventually ending in Union City.

After years of silence, Nava-Villa and his father embarked on a journey back to where their history began, and now, although his father has passed, Nava-Villa wants to continue recounting the legacy of Villa for the large community of Latinos in Hayward.

Growing up, Nava-Villa never paid much attention to a portrait in his father’s house of a man on horseback, until his wife, asked him if it was a family member because of a physical likeness, and it was then his father told him that this portrait was his grandfather, Pancho Villa.

From that day onwards, Nava-Villa’s interest was growing and so he began to inquire more. He said he simply knew his story would make a difference in the community.

“We need to tell our story,” Nava-Villa said he told his father, and together they decided to travel to Durango, Mexico to reunite with their past.

While in Mexico, Nava-Villa and his father were surprised and happy to see their grandfather had not been forgotten and was still very respected.

With this grand sentiment, father and son returned to the Bay Area ambitious and passionate about finding ways to share their journey and history.

Nava-Villa says he feels very proud of his Mexican roots and currently presents lectures at community colleges to recount his story to Latino students in the Bay Area.

Many versions have emerged about the life and death of the Mexican general, and Nava-Villa said he does feel his grandfather has been represented accurately for who he really was, a hero, a fighter and a common man who fought against government forces.

Nava-Villa says he wants to keep alive the image of his grandfather and relay the message that the things he fought for are still issues people can learn from today.

“I just knew I had a mission, I knew I had to do this, I knew I had to take him, I knew I had to go, just go,” said Nava-Villa. “No matter what anybody said, we just had to do it.”