Honors for a Few Good Soldiers Will Mark Latinos’ Contribution

Henry Gonzales Jr. grew up in an El Paso barrio hundreds of miles from the ocean. But as a teenager, he spent days dreaming of joining the Navy and sailing on big ships.

“I knew what I wanted to do since the ninth grade,” said Gonzales, 44, now a captain who attended the U.S. Naval Academy.

Gonzales will join two other honored military men today for a pre-Veterans Day event at Santa Ana College that celebrates the role of Latinos in the armed forces.

With Latinos making up nearly 30% of the county’s population, event organizers said it made sense to honor the contributions of Mexican American veterans, said Frederick Aguirre, a Santa Ana attorney and member of Latino Advocates for Education Inc.

“This is to acknowledge and recognize the contributions of Mexican Americans such as Gonzales and others to preserving our freedoms through their participation in the military,” Aguirre said.

Joining Gonzales will be retired Marine Col. John Telles, a Vietnam War-era combat jet pilot originally from East Los Angeles, and World War II hero Guy Louis Gabaldon.

Amin David, chairman of Los Amigos de Orange County, a grass-roots Latino organization, said the event will provide a chance “to bring out the best of our history.” The event will also touch on cases in which Latino World War II vets faced discrimination at home despite their heroism in combat. Many Latino veterans were denied benefits, such as the GI Bill of Rights, said David.

Such discrimination--including the notorious case of World War II Army Private Felix Longoria, who was killed in the Philippines only to be denied service from a Texas funeral home--helped spur creation of civil rights organizations such as the American GI Forum.

Then-Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson arranged for a hero’s burial for Longoria at Arlington National Cemetery.

Many Latino activists said it’s important to let the public know about the soldiers’ contributions.

David, a longtime county resident, recalled the reaction of Latino youths when Army Sgt. Roy P. Benavidez, a Vietnam War hero from Texas, was chosen as a grand marshal for a Santa Ana pride parade in 1987.

“The children stood in awe to see his chest full of medals, and hanging down from his neck was the Congressional Medal of Honor,” David said. Benavidez received the nation’s highest commendation, David added, only after heavy lobbying by Latino groups.

Those efforts serve as reminders that although Mexican Americans have fought bravely, historians have not fully highlighted their contributions, said Isaac Cardenas, chairman of Chicano studies at Cal State Fullerton.

“For a long time,” Cardenas said, “Americans of Mexican descent have been ignored and dismissed as not being contributors to American society, and oftentimes people have even questioned contributions to our history when, in fact, history tells us otherwise.”

A spokesman for the Department of Defense said 37 Latinos have earned the Medal of Honor.

Cal State Fullerton professor Rodolfo Acuna said in his book “Occupied America” that more Mexican American soldiers received Medals of Honor in World War I than any other minority group. During World War II, one of the most decorated units was the all-Chicano outfit Company E.

The Santa Ana event includes entertainment and demonstrations by the Marine Corps, Navy and Santa Ana Police SWAT team.

There will also be a 10:30 a.m. Mass for all veterans at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, 1344 S. Main St., Santa Ana.