Gascón was born on March 12, 1954, in pre-Communist Cuba. Shortly after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, his father lost his job for alleged anti-government activity, and his uncle, a union organizer, was jailed for over a decade.[7] In 1967, Gascón and his family emigrated from Cuba to the United States.

The family settled in Bell, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.[8] At the age of thirteen, Gascón enrolled in Los Angeles Unified School District schools where he struggled to learn English. He recalled: "I was spending hours translating everything with a Spanish-English dictionary. I started missing a lot of school."[9] By 1972, he dropped out of Bell High School.[9][10]

Gascón joined the United States Army in 1972. In the army, he earned his high school diploma and two years toward an undergraduate degree.[10] Gascón served in the 64th Military Police Detachment, much of it in Germany.[10] In 1975, he received an honorable discharge as a sergeant.[10] After the Army, Gascón completed a Bachelor of Arts in history from California State-Long Beach while working sales jobs.[10]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gasc%C3%B3n#Early_life_and_education

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5522537&forum_id=2#47616907)