Tuesday, May 6, 2003 | 8:55 a.m.
THREE WEEKS AGO I DROVE to the cemetery at Delano, Calif., to visit the grave of soldier Johnny P. Estrada. It was 50 years ago that he was killed in North Korea and his body was returned to his home in Earlimart, Calif. I resent the loosely used title hero that the media toss around nowadays. Estrada deserves to be called a hero. After being wounded in the morning and getting patched up, he jumped off the truck taking him from the aid station to a hospital and returned to his unit up front. Asked why he had returned, he replied, "They'll be coming in tonight and you are going to need me, sarge." His platoon had lost several key men the day before and Estrada had become a squad leader. He was needed and he died that night.
When searching for his grave, I read the names of the military veterans buried in the cemetery. It is one of two such memorials in the large cemetery and not the one with Estrada's name. What is evident are the names of so many Hispanics buried beneath military grave markers. It made me wonder how many were farm workers or the sons of farm-working families like the large Estrada family. Just looking at the fields of large fruit and vegetable growing farms in that area, I knew the answer.
The April 14, 2003 issue of U.S. News & World Report magazine told of Hispanics joining up in record numbers. The story was based on the number of Hispanics, some not even U.S. citizens, serving with combat units in Afghanistan and Iraq. Writer Betsy Streisand points out they "are especially well represented in the Marine Corps and are drawn disproportionately to frontline assignments involving weapons."
A Marine recruiter, Gunnery Sgt. Jorge Montes, is quoted as saying that most of his Latino recruits ask for infantry assignments. "Even recruits who score out of the infantry choose it anyway," says Montes, who chalks it up to a macho culture. "There is a certain pride in being in the front lines at the tip of the spear." This article won't surprise my Las Vegas friend Al Ramirez, who has studied the history of Latinos in the military. Since World War I, there have been 37 Americans with Hispanic blood who have been awarded our nation's Medal of Honor.
Finally, after so many decades, decision makers are recognizing the value of foreign-born members of our military. A recent USA Today article began with the following paragraph:
"Patrick O'Day was born in Scotland. Francisco Martinez Flores was born in Mexico. Neither were U.S. citizens, but they died together in Iraq as U.S. Marines."
We have made some attitude adjustments since the days that Three Rivers, Texas, cemetery refused to allow the burial of soldier Felix Longoria, whose body was returned in 1948 from WWII. Felix had been killed by a Japanese sniper in the Philippines three years earlier. Then-Sen., and later to become president, Lyndon B. Johnson made arrangements for his burial in Arlington National Cemetery. The funeral was attended by Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, Feb. 16, 1949, almost four years after his death.
There have been some improvements the foreign born have earned after many years of sweating in the growing fields and bleeding on the battlefields. Then I recall the recent college ROTC scholarship denial for Valley High School graduate Surisadai Maya. She had earned the scholarship as the command sergeant major in Valley's Army Junior ROTC program.
Maya came here at the age of 5 with her family, but because of a local scam artist they and hundreds of other Hispanics have had their citizenship applications held up. Without further consideration the government rule makers and followers told her she couldn't attend Washington State University on the ROTC scholarship she earned.
Yes, we have more steps to take if our nation is to fully reap the treasures found in the people who prove again and again their abilities and desire to be some of our most valuable citizens.
archive
