San Francisco native and current SF State music student, Leo Toscano, has something that most typical students don’t have yet: a lifetime of experiences. At 81-years-old, Toscano has survived through fighting in WWII, something that unfortunately not everyone returns home from.

After leaving for the war at the age of 17, Toscano finished his high school degree when he returned home at 19.

“I decided to go back to school because I hadn’t finished high school. When I went [to war] I was a senior, but as a young kid we were all wrapped around the war,” Toscano said. “I wanted to be another John Wayne or someone like that.”

Toscano decided to continue his studies after high school and study music. As a child, Toscano was a local dancing sensation as a Mexican folklore dancer alongside his cousin. He also started learning how to play the piano as a young boy. Toscano attended The Conservatory of Music in San Francisco, but eventually dropped out after a year due to a relapse from a head injury caused in the war.

For many war veterans, obtaining a job after the war was no easy task. Fortunately for Toscano, he was able to get a job working for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, which lasted for almost 40 years. He also played in a group called Moonlighting while working at the railroad to support his wife and six children -- five daughters and one son.

“I had to be grateful though, because it was the only job I had. I remember going out looking for work and they wouldn’t hire me ‘cause I didn’t have any experience,” said Toscano. “I just got through a war, what am I supposed to do?”

Despite having lost friends in the war and having to bury them at sea, WWII wasn’t the hardest thing he has had to endure. Recently, he lost his only son, Leo Michael Toscano, Jr., 51. He was the second-born child to Toscano and he misses him dearly.

About 20 years ago, his close aunt and his mother passed away. Having never met his father, she was his only parent. Around the same time, his wife also divorced him, making for very difficult times.

“It was worse than going to the war, I thought, because I was totally alone,” said Toscano.

Still, Toscano never lost sight of coming back to school. In the late 1980s, he enrolled as a music student at SF State and received his Bachelor of Arts in music in 1992. He is still a member of the university chorus and hopes to pursue a master’s degree in music at SF State someday.