Hispanic Military Heroes

Download or read book Hispanic Military Heroes written by Virgil Fernandez and published by Vfj Publishing. This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Virgil Fernandez was born in Port La Vaca, Texas in 1951. He and his family then moved to San Antonio when he was in high school. After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1969, he joined the U.S. Navy and served aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Saratoga until 1971. He then enrolled in San Antonio College and received an associate's degree in Radio Broadcasting in 1973. Virgil then transferred to the University of Texas at Austin and earned a bachelor's degree in government in 1975. Following college, Virgil worked as a news reporter and photographer/editor for radio and TV stations in Austin, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Dallas. In 1985 he decided to return to San Antonio and in 1987 began working for the Texas Employment Commission as an Interviewer. Being a disabled veteran himself, he was selected to be a Disabled Veteran's Outreach counselor. Virgil specialized in job placement and also taught job search workshops for three years. Virgil's interest in veteran's issues remained after leaving the Commission in 1996, and he published his first book, The Complete Veterans' Benefits Manual, in 2000. He then returned to the University of Texas and completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Relations in 2001. Virgil then went to work for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as an Information Specialist, specializing in media relations and web and text publishing. However, his interest in Hispanic issues, history, and veterans remained throughout the years. He finally decided to combine them and began researching articles relating to Hispanics and the roles they have played in the U.S. military. Several years later, the result was this book, Hispanic Military Heroes. Book jacket.

Download or read book Latin American Heroes written by Jerome Adams and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 1993-04-13 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many North Americans are unaware of the history and politics of Latin America, and Latin American Heroes goes a long way to redress this lack of knowledge. These profiles of twenty-three history makers offer a unique view of Latin America through the eyes of men and women who devoted their lives to their countries, and to the freedom of their people. Here are fascinating mini-biographies of such influential and important subjects as Dona Marina (La Malinche), a former slave, born in 1505, who became an invaluable translator for Cortes; Toussaint L'Ouverture, who led Haitians to rebel against their French masters in the first major slave revolt in the new world, Jose Marti, the journalist, revolutionary, poet, orator, and charismatic leader of the fight to free Cuba from Spanish domination, and the modern martyr Bishop Romero, who, as an outspoken Catholic clergyman opposed to the abuses of the rightist regime in El Salvador, was murdered for his beliefs. You'll also learn about Brazil's Emperors Pedro I and Pedro II, the Women of the Mexican Revolution, Argentina's Juan and Eva Peron, Mexico's Emiliano Zapata, Venezuela's Simon Bolivar, and Cuba's Che Guevara. A straightforward and thoroughly researched biographical reference that amplifies some of the most significant voices in Latin America, past and present, Latin American Heroes is a long-overdue tribute to the people whose fearless struggle for self-determination changed history.

Download or read book Soldados written by Charley Trujillo and published by Recycled. This book was released on 1990 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The adage that the poor make more resolute and compliable soldiers is verified when applied to Chicanos. As the personal accounts in Soldados: Chicanos in Vietnam attest, Chicanos were often the easiest and most malleable resource the U.S. had for achieving its quota for combat soldiers. And to those ends, they were used generously. The personal accounts of these veterans, many of whom experienced the war viscerally and whose private reasons were myriad and expressed in this book with a severe authenticity, can be of service to all. They fought for reasons that were ill-defined, often confusing, but for the most part devoid of any cogent understanding of the political and economic forces at play which took them from labor fields in Corcoran, California, to rice paddies in Indochina. From their odyssey a great house of knowledge can be gained, a knowledge that was, unfortunately, purchased with blood"--Amazon.com.

Download or read book Patriots from the Barrio written by Dave Gutierrez and published by Westholme Publishing. This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named One of the 24 Best History Books of All Time by Book Riot The Inspiring True Story of a Segregated Unit Whose Exploits Underscore the Forgotten Latino Contribution to the Allied Victory in World War II As a child, Dave Gutierrez hung on every word his father recalled about his cousin Ramon, "El Sancudo" (the mosquito), and his service in World War II, where he earned a Silver Star, three Purple Hearts, and escaped from the Germans twice. Later, Dave decided to find out more about his father's cousin, and in the course of his research he discovered that Ramon Gutierrez was a member of Company E, 141st Infantry, a part of the 36th "Texas" Division that was comprised entirely of Mexican Americans--the only such unit in the entire U.S. Army. The division landed at Salerno, Italy, in 1943, among first American soldiers to set foot in Europe. In the ensuing months, Company E and the rest of the 36th would battle their way up the mountainous Italian peninsula against some of Nazi Germany's best troops. In addition to the merciless rain, mud, and jagged peaks, swift cold rivers crisscrossed the region, including the Rapido, where Company E would face its greatest challenge. In an infamous episode, the 36th Division was ordered to cross the Rapido despite reports that the opposite bank was heavily defended. In the ensuing debacle, the division was ripped apart, and Company E sustained appalling casualties. The company rebounded and made the storied landings at Anzio and ultimately invaded southern France for a final push into Germany. The men of Company E distinguished themselves as rugged fighters capable of warring amid the rubble of destroyed villages and in the devastated countryside. Based on extensive archival research and veteran and family accounts, Patriots from the Barrio: The Story of Company E, 141st Infantry: The Only All Mexican American Army Unit in World War II brings to life the soldiers whose service should never have gone unrecognized for so long. With its memorable personalities, stories of hope and immigration, and riveting battle scenes, this beautifully written book is a testament to the shared beliefs of all who have fought for the ideals of the American flag.

Download or read book The Ghosts of Hero Street written by Carlos Harrison and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A wonderful American story of the extraordinary sacrifices made by a group of Mexican Americans . . . A shining example of patriotism at its best.”—Former U.S. Representative Tom Railsback They came from one street, but death found them in many places. . . in a distant jungle, a frozen forest, and trapped in the flaming wreckage of a bomber blown from the sky. They all came from a single street in Silvis, Illinois, a dirt road barely a block and a half long, with an unparalleled history. The Mexican-American families who lived on that one street sent fifty-seven of their children to fight in World War II and Korea—more than any other place that size anywhere in the country. Eight of those children died. It’s a distinction recognized by the Department of Defense, one that earned that strip a distinguished name: Hero Street. This is the story of those brave men and their families, how they fought both in battle and to be accepted in a society that remained biased against them even after they returned home as heroes. Based on interviews with relatives, friends, and soldiers who served alongside the men, as well as personal letters and photographs, The Ghosts of Hero Street is the compelling and inspiring account of a street of soldiers—and men—who would not be denied their dignity or their honor. INCLUDES PHOTOS

Download or read book World War II and Mexican American Civil Rights written by Richard Griswold del Castillo and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historical study examines how Mexican American experiences during WWII galvanized the community’s struggle for civil rights. World War II marked a turning point for Mexican Americans that fundamentally changed their relationship to US society at large. The experiences of fighting alongside white Americans in the military, as well as working in factory jobs for wages equal to those of Anglo workers, made Mexican Americans less willing to tolerate the second-class citizenship that had been their lot before the war. Having proven their loyalty and “Americanness” during World War II, Mexican Americans began to demand the civil rights they deserved. In this book, Richard Griswold del Castillo and Richard Steele investigate how the wartime experiences of Mexican Americans helped forge their civil rights consciousness and how the US government responded. The authors demonstrate, for example, that the US government “discovered” Mexican Americans during World War II and began addressing some of their problems as a way of ensuring their willingness to support the war effort. The book concludes with a selection of key essays and historical documents from the World War II period that provide a first-person perspective of Mexican American civil rights struggles.

Download or read book Hispanic Medal of Honor Recipients written by Michael Lee Lanning and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: La Valentia, el valor, la bravura. Since the creation of the Medal of Honor by the United States Congress in 1861, sixty Americans of Hispanic heritage have been awarded the nation's highest decoration for bravery and self-sacrifice in combat. In this important new work, Michael Lee Lanning documents what one reader describes as "some of the most extraordinary battlefield exploits ever performed in an American military uniform." Based on meticulous research, Lanning has assembled authoritative accounts of these heroic individuals and their deeds of valor, from the American Civil War through the current campaign in the Middle East. This clear and vigorous narrative--derived from enlistment records and other public documents, newspaper accounts, archival sources, and interviews with the families of the honorees--presents brief biographies that include details of the recipients' lives before and--in the case of those who survived--after their active-duty service. Lanning also includes the text of the citation from each recipients' Medal of Honor ceremonies and gripping accounts of the battlefield heroics that earned them the ultimate military honor from a grateful nation. Hispanic Medal of Honor Recipients: American Heroes provides the most thorough documentation to date of these courageous Americans and their service to our nation. The work offers a fitting commemoration of their remarkable actions under the direst circumstances, often performed under conditions of discrimination and prejudice, providing inspiration and encouragement for years to come.