An “ugly” little fact some won’t want to concede - Mexican nationals can be U.S. heroes

Monday is the day we officially honor those military personnel who died in behalf of the United States. Some might want to view it as a respite from the rhetoric that has been spewed in the partisan battles now taking place over the issue of immigration reform.

Yet it isn’t really.

FOR WHILE I can envision some of the hard-liners who want to think that this is a day when their “patriotism” reigns supreme and anyone who doesn’t adhere to their nativist viewpoint ought to pipe down, it really isn’t.

If anything, Memorial Day is a day when we get reminders of how people from other countries have been so eager to be a part of our society that they have been willing to fight in our military on its behalf. The ranks of military dead and military heroes include many immigrants.

And for those who want to think that the newest batch of immigrants is just so radically different from past waves of immigration because it comes from Latin America instead of Europe, Memorial Day provides evidence that such a thought is not so.

It is with all the “Mexico-bashing” that is taking place in some segments of our society that I feel the need to point out the following about the Congressional Medal of Honor – 43 of its recipients had ethnic origins in Latin America.

WHILE MOST OF those men were U.S.-born, there is the fact that 10 Medal of Honor winners were not from the mainland. One is from Chile, with another from Spain, four more from Puerto Rico proper, and yet another four who were born in Mexico – the nation that these nitwits would like to believe is the source of many problems confronting this nation.

Now I am not claiming that everyone of Mexican ethnicity is as worthy of recognition as the four. But trying to claim the reverse would be about as ridiculous as claiming that Timothy McVeigh (who during his own military career won the Bronze Star and considered himself to be a true patriot) as typical of all Anglos.

But I don’t think it hurts to remember the four men whose birthplace was south of the Rio Bravo del Norte/Rio Grande, but whose most memorable contribution came about in the service of the United States.

Marcario Garcia and Silvestre Herrera achieved their honor during the Second World War, while Alfred Rascon and Jose Jimenez served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam conflict.

GARCIA ACHIEVED HIS honor for his actions on Nov. 27, 1944 when, while serving as a private (he later was promoted to staff sergeant) in the Army near Grosshau in Germany, he attacked two machinegun emplacements that were picking off his fellow soldiers.

Despite suffering multiple bullet wounds, Garcia – born in Villa de Castano – was able to crawl to a position close enough where he was able to use hand grenades to destroy the guns and his rifle to kill the operators who were trying to escape.

Despite his wounds, he also managed to take four German soldiers as prisoners. Only after the two machinegun positions were taken out and his fellow soldiers were able to advance was he willing to accept medical treatment.

Then, there was army Private Herrera, who was born in Camargo in Chihuahua (although for many years, military records indicated he was born in El Paso, Texas).

ON MARCH 15, 1945, his platoon advanced through the woods near Mertzwiller, France, until it was confronted by machinegun fire. While his colleagues took cover, Herrera charged directly at one of the guns, capturing the eight German soldiers who were operating the gun.

When the soldiers tried advancing again and encountered a second machinegun placement, Herrera tried repeating his actions. This time, he stepped on a landmine and wound up losing both of his feet.

Although he was bleeding severely, his reaction was to grab his rifle and use it to keep the German crew from being able to cause more damage. That is what enabled another group of U.S. soldiers to capture the crew.

Despite the severity of his injuries, Herrera survived and was presented with his Medal of Honor by then-President Harry S Truman.

MEXICO ALSO RECOGNIZED his actions, presenting him with the Medal of Merit. At the time of his death in 2007, Herrera (who went on to be an Arizona resident and has a Phoenix street named after him) was the only person authorized to wear both medals.

Two decades later, another war gave two other Mexican citizens their chance at U.S. military heroics.

Rascon was born in Chihuahua, but his family settled in Oxnard, Calif., when he was young. When he finished high school, he enlisted in the U.S. army. Which is how he came to be in Vietnam near the Long Khahn Province on March 16, 1966 as a medic for a platoon of paratroopers. His platoon was assigned to provide support to a sister battallion already under attack.

As a result, he repeatedly came under fire while trying to get to soldiers who were in need of medical aid. In several instances, Rascon used his own body to cover those of wounded soldiers. As a result, he suffered from several grenade blasts, yet still managed to get soldiers to safety.

HIS OWN WOUNDS were severe enough that he was administered the Last Rites, although he eventually spent six months at a hospital in Japan recovering from his injuries.

He became a U.S. citizen in 1967, and went on to have a military career that saw him retire in 2002 as a lieutenant colonel.

But his Medal of Honor status was a bigger political fight. He was nominated for the Medal of Honor, but a paperwork error was blamed for him receiving the Silver Star instead. It was former Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., who persuaded then-President Bill Clinton to push the Pentagon to reconsider.

Rascon received the Medal of Honor in 2000.

MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD A story was that of Jose F. Jimenez, who was born in Mexico City but whose family immigrated to the United States (Arizona, to be specific).

Initially, he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in June 1968, but was discharged to enlist in the regular Marine Corps later that year. On Aug. 28, 1969, he was killed in action while attacking troops near DaNang.

What made his death more memorable than most, according to his Medal of Honor citation, was that he died after charging at machinegun emplacements, personally destroying an antiaircraft weapon and killing several soldiers.

Even after being wounded, Jimenez kept charging and firing his weapon, getting within 10 feet of an enemy emplacement before suffering the wound that finally killed him.

JIMENEZ WOUND UP winning, in addition to the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, the Vietnam Service Medal, two Bronze Stars, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry.

Which is probably more than some nativists will ever feel comfortable crediting a Mexican with receiving on behalf of the United States.

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