Freedom is Not Free

(My Speech At Disabled American Veterans Convention - 2001)

My name - Jose Jimenez. (Pause) My name - Jose Jimenez (Pause)
I see there are some of you who remember Bill Dana and how he played on that line to open up his comedy routine as he traveled across the country entertaining the gullible in the 1950s and 60s. How about Don Rickles, another Jewish comedian, who used another more insulting tactic to draw attention to his act. It went something like this, “Hey, you there! You, the Mexican! The one with all the flies around him!" Remember him? In the fifties that was considered fair game in the entertainment industry.

In advertising, things were worse. There were ads on TV for deodorant, for instance, that showed a mustachioed dark fat fellow wearing a sombrero, to make sure the message was understood, with the caption, “If it will work on him, it will work on anyone.” And in everyday life, particularly in Dixie or in eastern New Mexico, there were the “Whites Only” signs for toilets and even for water fountains. In Roswell there were signs on public parks, “Mexicans and Dogs, Keep Off the Grass.” You will agree these were infringements on the freedom of the affected minority groups.

As a Chicano, I encountered the belittling of the Mexican American in all facets of life. These were severe infringements on my freedom and I resented them, I still do.

During World War II change began to take place in the mores of American culture. Some of us, who are darker, than the rest of the white Hispanic population of the Southwest suffered doubly so, way past our return from WW II and Korea. Why am I telling you about this? Why am I bringing back old history? Because, Freedom is not free. You have to fight for it. You have to continue to fight for it. As a Disabled American Veteran, you in all probability have already fought the good fight. However, I am here to remind you that you must continue that fight. It is your responsibility. Let me get personal.

Let me tell you from personal experience.

Remember Kosovo? (4/l/99) It seemed like a bad April Fool's joke. The Yugoslav TV images with their names seemingly written backwards and upside down clearly showed that at least two of our boys, maybe three, had been captured by 'the Serbs in the border area between Yugoslavia and Macedonia. I said to my American Legion buddies at Post 13, “At least two are Chicanos.” The names on the screen did not look anything like Ramirez or González, they looked more like the name of two of my West Point classmates Pete Beczkiewicz and Dick Szymczyk. The evening CBS news cleared things up; the three American soldiers were Specialist Estéban M. González from Huntsville, TX; SSgt. Andrés A. Ramirez from East Los Angeles, CA; and SSgt. Christopher J. Stone from Smiths Creek, MI. They had apparently been abducted during a scouting mission. The President then came on to say, in effect to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, “Make no mistake, the United States takes care of its own, release them immediately.” Hey, Kilroy, this is war! I know. I have been there. The media, and our leadership, are calling us "Americans" again.

Give me a listen. My son-in-law John gave me a copy of Tom Brokaw’s book, "The Greatest Generation" for Christmas. Doug, another son-in-law, had seen Brokaw on Tim Russett's MSNBC TV program where Brokaw had broached the idea for his book. He submitted my name and some background information on me as he felt I was an ideal candidate for inclusion in the forthcoming book. On receipt of the material, Brokaw's research assistant, Ms. Liz Bowyer, called me to make an appointment for an extended telephone interview. The interview, on 6/3/99, took over an hour and I was asked to submit additional information on my life. This was followed by a second interview of about a half hour several weeks later. At any rate, after all that time on the telephone and additional submittals, I did not make the cut.

I was not one of the men and women whose lives comprise Brokaw's collection of stories about "the men and women who were shaped by the perils of the Great Depression and World War II." I was not included in The Greatest Generation. After reading the book and the stories of those who made the cut, I have to wonder why I didn't. As a matter of fact not a single Hispanic American made the cut, if any others were considered at all. A black, a nisei and an Apache Indian did, mistaken for a Navajo code talker, as well as Julia Child, for her soups. Apparently we Hispanics remain a part of the “invisible segment of society,” to coin a phrase.

Brokaw writes, “At a time in their lives when their days should have been filled with innocent adventure, love, and the lessons of the workday world, they were fighting in the most primitive conditions possible across the bloodiest landscape of France, Belgium, Italy, Austria and the coral Islands of the Pacific.” One of those not so brave sailors who fought in the Pacific was a dark haired, ruddy complexioned, indo-Hispanic kid from northern New Mexico nicknamed Andy. "Red" his shipmates called him. During the depression his father was in the veteran's Hospital and as the eldest of six sons worked twenty acres of land and raised all the food for the household. At age 15 Andy graduated from High School. At 17, too young to enlist without parental consent, Andy's first attempt to sign up was delayed when the recruiter decided to visit his mother in Peñasco to verify his age. Like so many moms, she knew that our way of life was being threatened and her allegiance to this nation left her no choice but to allow Andy to go off to war. Her decision was tempered in the knowledge that her husband Gregorio, a US Army veteran of WW I, having served in the US Cavalry at Meuse Argonne, was at the very moment in the Veteran's Hospital in Albuquerque. He had serious complications resulting from the use of mustard gas by the Germans. He died in September 1944 while Andy was at sea. Perhaps I should add that Andy's grandfather, Benito Chacón, rode (as a mule skinner) with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders who were recruited in northern New Mexico, and that Andy's great-grandfather Rafael Chacón commanded Union troops in the Battle of Valverde south of Socorro in 1862. Andy served as an aerial gunner AOM 2/c with VC-75, a Torpedo Squadron, flying off the USS Onmaney Bay (CVE-79), with the Seventh Fleet, affectionately known as MacArthur's Navy. The Ommaney Bay was sunk in the Sulu Sea by Japanese kamikaze pilots on January 4, 1945 the day MacArthur returned to the Philippines at Lingayen Gulf and Andy came home on survivor's leave. After the war Andy went to West Point and is the first Chicano to graduate from the Academy. He graduated in 1951, went in the Air Force, and flew 46 low level night intruder combat missions in B-26's in Korea and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and two Air Medals. He did not, until very recently, collect a dime from the Veteran’s Administration but his pain does not hide the savageries of the Civil Rights wars that he has been fighting since returning from the shooting wars, two of them, WW II and Korea.

OK, I am José Andrés "Andy" Chacón, and I am “incredibly proud” that Gregorio Chacón was my dad, that Benito Chacón was my granddad, and lastly, that my great-granddad was Rafael Chacón; and that all of us made our home on a twenty acre farm, at least for part of our lives, in Peñasco, Nuevo Mexico. North Americans, one and all. But, like the late Senator Dennis Chávez used to say of us Indo-Hispanics, "We are Americans since before Plymouth Rock." Then he would add, “To the Anglos; in time of war we are Americans, at election time we are Spanish-Americans, and when we look for a job or for some credit, we are Dirty Mexicans.”

After my first hand experience with the Brokaw project I can attest to the fact that things have not changed. Perhaps it is our own fault. During the Civil Rights debates of the 60s and 70s which took place along a black-white nexus we politely sat in the background, the quiet minority cheering our black brothers, patiently waiting our turn. Perhaps we should have rioted; perhaps we would not now, four decades later, still be invisible. Affirmative action was a program designed to bring our black brothers into the social and economic mainstream in these United States. It only peripherally affected us Indo-Hispanics. The group that affirmative action benefited the most was white America. The program, as later amended to add gender discrimination, brought untold white women into the work place in non-traditional roles and by and large these women are married to white men. So affirmative action favored the Angry White Male. But you can start moving over whitey. We Indo-Hispanics are catching up. The Bureau of the Census advises that we now are the largest minority, 37 million, we are. By 2040 will be the majority in this country. I wonder how we will deal with the white minority at that time. The Tom Brokaw equivalents, writing about the greatest generation of Americans, will do so in Spanish and may even add a token white to the list of Great Americans. I have seen two other publications similar in content and motive as the Brokaw book, one was the book The American Century by Harold Evans, and the other was a Parade Magazine piece on great Americans. No, we did not significantly make it there either.

Recently, I had occasion to get a copy of my birth certificate. Guess what? It lists my father Gregorio as white and my mother Emilia as white. Lordy! Lordy! Please don't call me “Whitey”, call me “Red.” It's better than “Spic” or “Greaser” or the other. I almost forgot. My third son-in-law, Lenny, gave me a micro-cassette recorder, the type Linda Tripp used, I'm wired! Now I'll be able to record the treatment given us second class citizens in this country even after fighting its wars since the Civil war! In the meantime I stayed tuned to CBS let's see if “Ankar,” the spokesman for Milosevic, followed through on his promise to treat the three soldiers, as he said, “no different that the way you treat the Mexicans you arrest trying to get into Texas all the time. You deport them.” That is exactly what they did, of course. I say two of our boys, but it could be three, the images of the Christopher J. Stone family in Michigan remind me of the Carters and Pohls from Chilili, the Tramleys from Mora, the Garleys from Belen, the Branchs from Espanola, etc.; Chicanos all. The next day the morning paper had a cartoon showing a befuddled Clinton being advised by a wise LBJ, “Let me tell you about trying to bomb folks to the peace table.” And you, Kilroy are saying, “They rarely show up,” It is going to be a long ground troop engagement, Kilroy. There is going to be a lot of brown American blood spilled in Macedonia, Montenegro and Yugoslavia; we are America's cannon fodder, you know. Were any of you there? And now we have Gulf II, “Dubya’s” war. The war over oil most thinking people say. Whatever. The body bags keep on coming.

Does anyone need a reminder of what war is like? Just last April 7th, the scene at the foot of the bridge over the Diyala River was one of utter desolation, with the ground littered with smoldering Iraqi bodies. Burning vehicles sent plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky. The air stank from the smell of so much afire. Only the stray dogs, nosing around the flesh and flames, seemed alive. "It's a little sobering," said Capt. Sal Aguilar, standing in a field with dead Iraqis all around him. "When you're training for this, you joke about it, you can't wait for the real thing. Then when you see it, when you see the real thing, you never want to see it again." Freedom is not Free. Our leaders extol upon us, “A national moment of Remembrance” in honor of those who have died to make our freedom possible. Let me read some of those names to you:
HISPANIC AMERICAN CASUALTIES OF IRAQI--FREEDOM WAR
DEATHS
April 4
Marine Sgt. Duane R. Rios, 25, Hammond, Ind., combat.
April 3
Army Staff Sgt. Nino D. Livaudias, 23, Ogden, Utah, combat
Marine Cpl. Erik H. Silva, 22, Chula Vista, Calif., combat
April 2
Army Master Sgt. George A. Fernandez, 36, of El Paso, Texas
March 30
Marine Capt. Aaron J. Contreras, 31, Sherwood, Ore., helicopter crash
March 29
Army Pfc. Diego Fernando Rincon, 19, Conyers, Ga., suicide attack
March 27:
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Menusa, 33, Tracy, Calif., combat
Marine Lance Cpl. Jesus A. Suarez Del Solar, 20, Escondido, Calif., combat
March 26
Marine Maj. Kevin G. Nave, 36, White Lake Township, Mich., vehicle accident
March 25:
Marine Pfc. Francisco A. Martinez Flores, 21, Los Angeles, combat
Marine Cpl. Robert M. Rodriguez, 21, New York, combat
March 23:
Army Sgt. Edward J. Anguiano, 24, Brownsville, Texas.
Marine Cpl. Jose A. Garibay, 21, Costa Mesa, Calif., combat
Marine Cpl. Jorge A. Gonzalez, 20, Los Angeles, combat
March 21
Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, 22, Los Angeles, combat
CAPTURED
March 23:
Army Spc. Edgar Hernandez, 21, Mission, Texas
MISSING:
March 23:
Army Sgt. Edward J. Anguiano, 24, Brownsville, Texas.
Army Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, El Paso, Texas
Army Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, 35, El Paso, Texas
Marine Sgt. Fernando Padilla-Ramirez, 26, Yuma,

How about another list? Proportionately, Hispanics have had more of our own earn the Congressional Medal of Honor. Here are their names:

Hispanic Medal Of Honor Recipients List

Name Date/Place of Birth Date Of Action Military Unit Presentation Date of Death Entered Service At: Place of Action Place of Burial

Corporal Joseph H. de Castro U.S. Army Nov 14, 1844 Boston, MA Jul 03, 1863 Gettysburg, PA Company I 19th Massachusetts Infantry Dec 01, 1864May 08, 1892 Fairmount Cemetery Newark, NJ Boston, MA
Seaman John Ortega U.S. Navy1840 Spain Date Not Given off the Coast of GAUSS "Saratoga" Dec 31, 1864 Unknown Pennsylvania
Ordinary Seaman Philip Bazar U.S. Navy Chile Jan 15, 1865 Fort Fisher, NCUSS "Santiago de Cuba" Jun 22, 1865 Unknown New Bedford, MA
Private France Silva U.S. Marine Corps May 08, 1876 Hayward, Ca Jun 28 - Aug 17, 1900 Peking, China USS "Newark" Jul 19, 1901 Apr 10, 1951 Sunset Hill Cemetery Corning, CA San Francisco, CA
Private David Benes Barkeley U.S. Army Mar 31, 1899 Laredo, TX Nov 09, 1918 Pouilly, France Co A, 356th Infantry 89th Division 1919 Presented to his mother at her home in San Antonio, TX Nov 09, 1918 San Antonio Nacional San Antonio , TX
Private Jose Pantaleon Martinez U.S. Army Jul 27, 1920 Taos, NM May 26, 1943 Attu Island, Aleutian Islands Alaska Co K, 32d Infantry 7th Infantry Division Nov 11, 1943 Presented to his family at Ault, CO by BGen Frank Culin, Jr. May 26, 1943 Ault Cemetery Ault, CO
Staff Sergeant Rudolph B. Davila U.S. Army May 28, 1944 Artena, Italy Co H, 7th Infantry June 21, 2000 Presented at the White House by President William Clinton Jan 26, 2002
Staff Sergeant Luciano Adams U.S. Army Oct 26, 1922 Port Arthur, TX Oct 28, 1944 St. Die, France Co I, 3d Bn, 30th Infantry 3rd Infantry Division Apr 23, 1945 Presented at Zepman Stadium, Nuremberg, Germany by Lt Gen Alexander M. Patch, III Living Port Arthur, TX
Staff Sergeant Macario Garcia U.S. Army Jan 02, 1920 Villa De Castano, México Nov 27, 1944 Grosshau, Germany Co B, 22nd Infantry 4th Infantry Division Aug 23, 1945 Presented at the White House by President Harry S Truman Dec 24, 1972 Houston National Houston, TX Sugar Land, TX
Sergeant Jose Mendoza Lopez U.S. Army Jun 01, 1912 Mission, TX Dec 17, 1944 Krinkelt, Belgium Co M, 3d Bn, 23d Infantry 2d Infantry Division Jun 18, 1945 Presented at Zepman Stadium, Nuremberg, Germany by MGen James Van Fleet, III Living Brownsville, TX
Private First Class Jose F. Valdez U.S. Army Jan 03, 1925 Governador, NM Jan 25, 1945 Rosenkrantz, France Co B, 7th Infantry 3d Infantry Division Feb 08, 1946 Feb 17, 1945 Santa Fe National Santa Fe, NM Pleasant Grove, UT
Technical Sergeant Cleto L. Rodriguez U.S. Army Apr 26, 1923 San Marcos, TX Feb 09, 1945 Paco Railroad Station Manila, Philippine Is. Co B, 148th Infantry 37th Infantry Division Oct 12, 1945 Presented at the White House by President Harry S Truman Dec 07, 1990 Fort Sam Houston National San Antonio, TX San Antonio, TX
Private First Class Manuel Perez, Jr. U.S. Army Mar 03, 1923 Oklahoma City, OK Feb 13, 1945 Ft William McKinley, Luzon, Philippine Is. Co A, 511th Parachute Inf. 11th Airborne Division Dec 27, 1945Mar 14, 1945 Fairlawn Cemetery Oklahoma City, OK Chicago, IL
Private First Class Silvestre Santana Herrera U.S. Army Jul 17, 1917 El Paso, TX Mar 15, 1945 Merzwiller, France Co E, 2d Bn, 142d Infantry 36th Infantry Division Aug 23, 1945 Presented at the White House by President Harry S Truman Living Phoenix, AZ
Staff Sergeant Ysmael R. Villegas U.S. Army Mar 21, 1924 Casa Blanca, CA Mar 20, 1945 Villa Verde Trail, Luzon, Philippine Is. Co F, 127th Infantry 32d Infantry Division Oct 19, 1945Mar 20, 1945 Riverside National Riverside, CA Casa Blanca, CA
Private First Class Harold Gonsalves U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Jan 28, 1926 Alameda, CA Apr 15, 1945 Okinawa Shima, Ryukyu Islands Battery L, 4th Bn, 15th Marines 6th Marine Division. Apr 15, 1945 Golden Gate National San Bruno, CA California
Private First Class David M. Gonzales U.S. Army Jun 09, 1923 Pacoima, CA Apr 25, 1945 Hill 507, Villa Verde, Luzon, Philippine Is. Co A, 127th Infantry 32d Infantry Division Dec 08, 1945Apr 25, 1945 Calvary Cemetery Los Angeles, CA Pacoima, CA
Private First Class Alejandro Renteria Ruiz U.S. Army Jun 26, 1924 Loving, NM Apr 28, 1945 Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands Co A, 1st Bn, 165th Infantry 27th Infantry Division Jun 14, 1946 Presented at the White House by President Harry S Truman Living Carlsbad, NM
First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez U.S. Marine Corps Aug 23, 1925 Tampa, FL Sep 15, 1950 Inchon, Korea Co A, 1st Bn, 5th Marines 1st Marine Division Aug 30, 1951 Presented to his parents at the Pentagon by Secretary of the Navy Dan A. Kimball Sep 15, 1950 Centre Adorim Memorial Park Tampa, FL Tampa, FL
Private First Class Eugene Arnold Obregon U.S. Marine Corps Nov 12, 1930 Los Angeles, CA Sep 26, 1950 Seoul, Korea Co G, 3d Bn, 5th Marines 1st Marine Division Aug 30, 1951 Presented to his parents at the Pentagon by Secretary of the Navy Dan A. Kimball Sep 26, 1950 Calvary Cemetery East Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles, CA
Sergeant Jose Carlos Rodriguez U.S. Army Nov 14, 1928 San Bernardino, CA May 21, 1951 Munye-ri, Korea Co F, 2d Bn, 17th Inf. Reg. 7th Infantry Division Jan 29, 1952 Presented at the White House by President Harry S Truman Living San Bernardino, CA
Corporal Rudolfo Perez Hernandez U. S. Army Apr 14, 1931 Colton, CA May 31, 1951 Wontong-ni, Korea Co G, 2d Bn.. 187th Airborne Combat Team Apr 12, 1952 Presented at the White House by President Harry S Truman Living Fowler, CA
Private First Class EdwardO Gomez U.S. Marine Corps Aug 10, 1932 Omaha, NE Sep 14, 1951 Hill 749, Korea Co E, 2d Bn, 1st Marines 1st Marine Division (Rein). Sep 14, 1951 St. Mary's Cemetery Omaha, NE Omaha, NE
Private First Class Fernando Luis Garcia U.S. Marine Corps Oct 14, 1929 Utuado, Puerto Rico Sep 05, 1952 Korea Co I, 3d Bn, 5th Marines 1st Marine Division (Rein.)Oct 25, 1953 Presented to his parents at the City Hall in Utuado, Puerto Rico Sep 05, 1952 Puerto Rico National Bayamon, Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico
Corporal Benito Martinez U.S. Army Apr 21, 1932 Fort Hancock, TX Sep 06, 1952 Satae-ri, Korea Co A, 1st Bn, 27th Infantry 25th Infantry Division Dec 16, 1953Sep 06, 1952 Fort Bliss National Fort Bliss, TX Fort Hancock, TX
Staff Sergeant Ambrosio Guillen U.S. Marine Corps Dec 07, 1929 La Junta, CO Jul 25, 1953 Songuch-on, Korea Co F, 2d Bn, 7th Marines 1st Marine Division (Rein.).Jul 25, 1953 Fort Bliss National Fort Bliss, TX El Paso, TX
Captain Humberto Roque Versace U.S. Army Jul 2, 1937 Albuquerque, NM Oct 29, 1963 to Sep 26, 1965 Zn Xuyen Province, Vietnam Detachment A-23, 5th Special Forces Group Jan 8, 2002 Presented to his family at the White House by President George W. Bush Sep 26, 1965 (???) Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA Norfolk, VA
Specialist Fourth Class Daniel Fernandez U.S. Army Jun 30, 1944 Albuquerque, NM Feb 18, 1966 Cu Chi, Hau Nghia Province Republic of Vietnam Co C, 1st Bn, 5th Inf (Mech) 25th Infantry Division Apr 6, 1967. Presented to his family at the White House by President Lyndon B. Johnson Feb 18, 1966 Santa Fe National Santa Fe, NM Albuquerque, NM
Medic Alfredo Rascon U.S. Army1945 Mexico Mar 16, 1966 Long Khanh Province Republic of Vietnam HQ Co, 1st Bn, 503d Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade Feb 8, 2000 Presented at the White House by President William Clinton. Still Living Oxnard, CA
Captain Euripides Rubio U.S. Army Mar 01, 1938 Ponce, Puerto Rico Nov 08, 1966 Tay Ninh Province Republic of Vietnam HQ Co, 1st Bn, 28th Infantry 1st Infantry Division Jul 11, 1968 Presented to his family at the Pentagon by Secretary of the Army Stanley R. Resor. Nov 08, 1966 Puerto Rico National Bayamon, Puerto Rico Ft Buchanan, Puerto Rico
First Sergeant Maximo Yabes U.S. Army Jan 29, 1932 Lodi, CA Feb 26, 1967 Phu Hoa Dong Republic of Vietnam Co A, 4th Bn, 9th Infantry 25th Infantry Division Oct 31, 1968 Presented to his family at the Pentagon by Secretary of the Army Stanley R. Resor. Feb 26, 1967 Fort Logan National Denver, CO Eugene, OR
Private First Class Carlos James Lozada U.S. Army Sep 06, 1946 Caguas, Puerto Rico Nov 20, 1967 Hill 875, Dak To, Kontum Prov. Republic of Vietnam Co A, 2d Bn, 503d Infantry 173d Airborne Brigade Nov 18, 1969 Presented to his family at the White House by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew Nov 20, 1967 Long Island National Farmingdale, NY New York, NY
Sergeant Alfredo "Freddy" Gonzalez U.S. Marine Corps May 23, 1946 Edinburg, TX Feb 04, 1968 Thua Thien Republic of Vietnam Co A, 1st Bn, 1st Marines 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF Oct 31, 1969 Presented to his family at the White House by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew Feb 04, 1968 Hillcrest Cemetery Edinburg, TX San Antonio, TX
Major Jay R. Vargas U.S. Marine Corps Jul 29, 1937 Winslow, AZ Apr 30-May 2, 1968 Dai Do, Quang Tri Province Republic of Vietnam Co G, 2d Bn, 4th Marines 9th Marine Amphibious Bde May 14, 1970. Presented at the White House by President Richard M. Nixon Living Winslow, AZ
Master Sergeant Roy Perez Benavides U.S. Army Aug 05, 1935 Cuero, TX May 02, 1968 Loc Ninh, Cambodia Det B-56 5th S.F. Group (Airborne) 1st Special Forces Feb 21, 1981 Presented at the Pentagon by President Ronald Reagan Nov 29, 1998 Houston, TX
Specialist Fourth Class Hector Santiago-Colon U.S. Army Dec 20, 1942 Salinas, Puerto Rico Jun 28, 1968 Quang Tri Province Republic of Vietnam Co B, 5th Bn, 7th Cavalry 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile)Apr 7, 1970 Presented to his family at the White House by President Richard M. Nixon Jun 28, 1968 Salinas Municipal Salinas, Puerto Rico New York, NY
Lance Corporal Jose Francisco Jimenez U.S. Marine CorpsMar 20, 1946 Mexico City, Mexico Aug 28, 1969 Da Nang, Quang Nam Province Republic of Vietnam Co K, 3d Bn, 7th Marines 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF Aug 06, 1970 Presented to his family at the White House by President Richard M. Nixon Aug 28, 1969 Panteon Municipal Morelia, Mexico Phoenix, AZ
Private First Class Ralph Ellis Dias U.S. Marine Corps Jul 15, 1950 Shelocta, PA Nov 12, 1969 Que Son Mountains Republic of Vietnam Co D, 1st Bn, 7th Marines 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF Jul 17, 1974 Presented to his family at Blair House, Washington DC by Vice President Gerald R. Ford Nov 12, 1969 Oakdale Cemetery Leetonia, OH Pittsburgh, PA
Specialist Fourth Class John P. Baca. U.S. Army Jan 10, 1949 Providence, RI Feb 10, 1970 Quan Loi, Republic of Vietnam Co D, 1st BN, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division Jun 15, 1971 Presented at the White House by President Richard M. Nixon Living Ft. Ord, CA
Lance Corporal Emilio Alberto de la Garza, Jr. U.S. Marine Corps Jun 23, 1949 East Chicago, IL Apr 11, 1970 Da Nang Republic of Vietnam Co E, 2d Bn, 1st Marines 1st Marine Division (Rein) FMF Sep 09, 1971 Presented to his family at the White House by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew Apr 11, 1970 Saint Johns Cemetery Hammond, IN Chicago, IL Lance Corporal Miguel Keith U.S. Marine Corps Jun 02, 1951 San Antonio, TX May 08, 1970 Quang Ngai Province Republic of Vietnam Combined Action Plt 1-3-2 III Marine Amphibious Force Sep 15, 1971 Presented to his family at the White House by Vice President Spiro T. Agnew May 08, 1970 Forrest Lawn Cemetery Omaha, NE Omaha, NE
Warrant Officer Louis Richard Rocco U.S. Army Nov 19, 1938 Albuquerque, NM May 24, 1970 Katum Republic of Vietnam Advisory Team 162 US Military Assistance Cmd Dec 12, 1974 Presented at the White House by President Gerald R. Ford Oct 31, 2002 Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery San Antonio, TX Los Angeles, CA

Regardless of the record, we Hispanics, have to keep on fighting. The powers that be will always ask, “What have you done for me lately?” Tell them,

"I Am a Vet!"

Read On! Enjoy!

God Bless America
By José Andrés "Andy" Chacón, Cullum 18250

Free Lance Writer & Ex-Adjunct Professor, UNM
Life Member - Disabled American Veterans