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 Editorials | Opinions | November 2007 
Honoring Latino Veterans
 Patty Cruz Lopez - La Oferta
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| | Latinos have made great contributions th the US by serving in the armed forces. This Veterans Day it is important to show appreciation for their sacrifice. (EFE) |
Veterans of the armed forces, who are alive today, prove that war is an experience that reaches far beyond the land on which it is fought. That in order to avoid the same tragedies from occurring again it is an experience that must be shared.
When Japan struck Pearl Harbor in 1941, Francisco C. Morúa was 17 ½. He told his mother he was going to enlist in the Army because he wanted to protect his family and save the nation.
Over 500,000 Latinos nationwide, predominantly Mexican-Americans, also voluntarily signed up for WWII but Morúa was still too young and needed his parents’ permission to enlist.
Signed documents in hand he was turned away by army recruitment officers who said he could not join because he was “Mexican born.” Today more concentrated armed forces recruitment efforts are being targeted to Latino youth, who make up the fast growing 17-21 year old population.
In 1942 Morúa’s unwavering persistence led to his enlistment sending him overseas on a two-year mission.
First stationed in Africa he helped drive the Germans up through Italy where he says they were “pinned down 18-months living on rations and sleeping in foxholes.” While serving in WWII Latinos fought in integrated units, Morúa says, “We were all the same. Soldiers were falling left and right. I’d pray every night before I went to sleep. I wasn’t consumed by thoughts of returning home, the ones who thought about going home never returned.”
A 14-hour 7-part documentary entitled “The War” that aired on PBS survived intense public backlash when filmmaker Ken Burns finally agreed to include a segment demonstrating the efforts of Latinos in WWII. Morúa a Mexican born soldier who served in WWII said, “I didn’t do it to get credit it was in my blood.”
Latinos currently in the military are mostly in the low ranks of the marines and the army, serving in the high casualty/high risk frontline. One of the lucky few, Francisco C. Morúa made it past the front line of WWII and is now 85 years old, father of 2 daughters, grandfather to 4 grand children a member of the honor guard and a recognized local figure. He says, “I’m proud that I served the nation and I came back.
It was like a dream.” Morúa will ride in the Veterans Day parade on Sunday November 11, 2007 at 12:00 p.m. in downtown San Jose in one of two cars sponsored by the Castellano Family Foundation, who’s co-founder Al Castellano also served in the army.
The virtual media blackout of flag draped caskets returning from Iraq, of people protesting against the war and the limiting of actual footage from Iraq is a failing attempt to manipulate the realities of war.
Veterans carry memories that can never be erased. Honor Veterans by not only attending parades but also show appreciation for their sacrifice by effectively using the rights they fight to protect. |
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