It always happens when local vets get together over a few cold ones that the stories (some real, some made up) start to flow.
There was one by a fellow (call him Andres) who had lived for a time in Midwest and had gotten into some hot water over a DWI and was made to attend AA sessions. Over the course of two or three months, he said he got to now most of the people who attended the sessions, including an Army Special Forces veteran. In the rural Midwest in a tiny town of 13,000, he said he was the only Hispanic in the group.
Much to his surprise, one day the Special Forces vet had his turn at speaking about his alcohol problems and was visibly shaking as he took the floor. Beads of sweat were visible on his face.
"You know there were times when things looked bad in the battle field and I thought that it was all over," he said. "When that happened, I looked for the Mexicans and hung around with them because I knew they were going to survive. "
Andres said that the vet never addressed the issue from there on and seemed embarrassed to have said it later.My personal favorite involved my meeting Medal of Honor winner Roy Benavidez during a campaign rally for fellow U.S. veteran Bob Kerry who was making a run for the presidency way back when in 1992.
The rally for Kerry was held at the old Ft. Brown Resaca Club (the Aztec Room, I believe). I was standing next to Roy as Kerry made the rounds working the small crowd.
I mentioned to him that it seemed funny how many Hispanics were awarded so many medals for bravery in combat.
"I wonder why that is?" I asked the diminutive warrior.
"Nosotros somos como el mesquite, Juan," he said. "Nos cortan y nos queman pero nunca nos rajamos (We're like mesquite wood. They cut and and burn us but we never crack(?).
4 comments:
bullshit. the Mexicans I knew in the Army were short fuckers who cleaned the latrines and peeled papas in the mess hall. Be honest, bro!
You are a racist piece of shit.
From the Herald:
"Montes was part of the first wave of the invasion, which American forces launched on April 1, he and his crew ferrying a Marine commander from the McIntyre to the island. The trip seemed uneventful, with just a few shots fired, until Montes spotted a Japanese Zero fighter plane.
He told his gunner to take aim with the big 40mm guns, but the man hesitated, thinking it was an American plane. Montes was right, though, having trained in aircraft identification while stationed in the Aleutian Islands.
In the next split second every Allied vessel began firing at the Zero, hurtling toward a small carrier in a shrieking kamikaze dive. The second day was the worst, the sky thick with Japanese aircraft and smoke everywhere from all the shooting, Montes said."
Gunners are not potato pealers or janitors.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_ef9cc092-85c7-11e5-a030-7390b8188d41.html
Juan why do you allow racists to disparage the honor of so many U.S. Americans, of Mexican heritage? I know you have an open policy on comments which on the surface is commendable, when comments spread racism they should have no place on any blog. But is for you to decide what is best. Some mught say by allowing for the comment your are proving racism still exists. That is a good message.
CHARLIE MIKE MSG.BENAVIDEZ.
If you have never seen the History Channel documentary "Hispanics and the Medal of Honor" you need to see it! Makes me proud to Hispanic! Per capita, more Hispanics have won the medal of Honor than any other race.
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