Article 3: " When the River Dreams’
By Eric Lidji, The Post
Thursday, June 1, 2006 

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Sometimes two people are drawn together, even if they never get to meet. For the last 10 years, John Flores, a reporter who grew up in Alvarado, has been covering the story of Marine Sergeant Alfredo Gonzalez, a Medal of Honor winner who died in the Vietnam War.

The story has grown to encompass everything from war stories and family drama to watchdog journalism and now a book set for release this fall.

On May 9, the Texas Senate passed a resolution honoring Flores’ work in reporting the story of Freddy Gonzalez.

Sen. Juan Hinojosa, who brought the resolution, cited Flores’ "outstanding work as a reporter and an author" and for his "perseverance and skill in reporting the story of Dolia Gonzalez."

"I had no idea anybody was going to do that," Flores said. He considers it the greatest honor he has received as a writer.

Flores first learned about the Gonzalez family while serving as the Edinburg bureau reporter for the McAllen Monitor. Flores lived near Freddy Gonzalez Drive and ate breakfast at the Echo Hotel where Dolia Gonzalez, Freddy’s mother, worked as a waitress.

Through the head cook at the restaurant, Flores found out that Freddy Gonzalez had saved several fellow Marines during the Tet Offensive, before being mortally wounded.

Flores tried to get an interview with Dolia, who kept avoiding him. When she finally sat down to talk with him, it became the start of a friendship that has lasted more than a decade and resulted in numerous articles, trips around the country and a book called "When the River Dreams," which will be published this fall.

The story has branched out in numerous directions. It started with the story of Freddy Gonzalez.

Dolia gave birth to Freddy when she was just 16 years old. A poor single Mexican-American mother, she had two strikes going against her as she tried to raise her son. One of the things that attracted Flores to the story originally was that she succeeded.

"He was a great kid," Flores said. "He could have been a gang member or a bad kid. Instead, he turned out to be a real hero."

Freddy wanted to be a Marine since he first saw John Wayne movies with his mother as a child. Growing up, he occasionally got into fights, usually protecting his mother’s honor, but Flores found that most remembered him as good-natured and a great friend.

He enlisted right out of high school. After a yearlong tour of duty, he returned to Vietnam when his old platoon was hit hard by an ambush.

Over five days in early 1968, Freddy fought in Operation Hue City, exposing himself to heavy enemy fire several times in order to save an injured soldier and move his platoon. Although injured, he refused medical attention and continued fighting, knocking out an enemy rocket launcher before being mortally wounded at 21 years old.

President Nixon signed the Medal of Honor declaration, and Dolia traveled to Washington D.C. to receive the medal from Vice President Spiro Agnew.

In 1995, after he wrote the story of Freddy Gonzalez, Flores found out that the Navy was constructing a warship to be named the USS Alfredo Gonzalez and that Dolia would be christening the ship at the Bath Iron Works in Maine.

He convinced Continental Airlines to give him a free ticket to Maine and convinced the Navy to let him stay in the officer’s barracks.

He published the story of his trip in a very popular three-part series for the McAllen Monitor. Actually, it was the most read story since Pearl Harbor.

Flores also rode the ship as it came down to be commissioned from Corpus Christi. The ship hit a hurricane on the way, and the sailors on board joked that as an ex-Coast Guardsman, Flores would be the first to get sick, but he never did.

A year after Flores rode down to Corpus, Dolia Gonzalez told him that the Veterans’ Affairs office had cancelled her benefits and forced her to pay $8,000 in reimbursement. Dolia had recently been diagnosed with cancer and had her car stolen, and was having to walk to her waitress job, where she hadn’t received a raise in the 25 years she’d held the job.

"It sounds like a bad country song, everything that could have happened to her happened to her," Flores said.

After Flores wrote several stories about her that were printed in papers around the country, the Albertson’s Corporation held a press conference and announced they would pay her debt.

Although to a lesser extreme, Flores has been able to identify with Gonzlez’s life.  Flores was born in Dallas and grew up in Grand Prairie. His family moved to a farm south of Alvarado in 1972, when Flores began high school. His mother, who died recently, spent ten years as a popular teacher in Alvarado schools.

During high school and after graduation, Flores worked on the Mears farm, driving a tractor, pulling weeds and hand-spraying crops at $2 an hour.

At the farm, Flores met Mexican immigrants for the first time, and he said that their work ethic inspired him and led to an interest in their lives that continues today. One of the things that drew him to the Gonzalez story was Dolia and Freddy’s sense of duty, even in controversial situations.

"You can argue about it later, just do the job," Flores said. Although Flores’ family had good jobs, he said they were all expected to work and contribute to the family income. Another thing that drew Flores in was that he would soon become a serviceman himself.

"At that time I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I wanted something adventurous and I wanted some travel," Flores said. "That was right after Vietnam, and I didn’t want to go into the Army or Marines or anything like that. I thought, ‘Coast Guard, that’s a good outfit. You don’t have to kill people, you can save them.’"

After he completed his training in San Francisco, the Coast Guard gave him the opportunity to decide where he would be stationed. He chose New Orleans, working on Lake Pontchartrain and the swampland along the Mississippi River in the busiest search and rescue station in the United States.

"We had a huge area to cover and we only had three boats, so we were always busy," Flores said.

In New Orleans, Flores got to spend time with his uncle, Adolph Flores, a well-educated doctor who was also a confirmed bachelor. Adolph introduced his nephew to the literary figures who grew out of New Orleans, like Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote, and also gave him his first dictionary.

The Coast Guard had a base newspaper, and Flores started writing humor and daily life columns.

When he was discharged in 1981, he enrolled at Hill Junior College in Hillsboro to pursue writing and went on to work for newspapers in Burleson, Kileen, Corpus Christie and Austin before going to McAllen and learning about Gonzalez.

Since then, he’s worked in Odessa, Arlington and Corsicana, where he got to interview then Gov. George Bush about a meat packing plant that was trying to move into town. Now, Flores lives with his wife, Rowena, in Albuquerque, where he works as a freelance writer.

He said that he is still interested in stories that tell national issues, and would like to write about immigration, the United Farm Worker and labor unions.

And just like Freddy, Flores is still loyal to Dolia Gonzalez, often making calls to government agencies on her behalf, and still writing stories when he feels that the mother of a Medal of Honor winner hasn’t been treated justly.

On Oct. 31, 37 years to the day since Dolia Gonzalez accepted her son’s posthumous award, Flores will return to Edinburg once again, this time as a stop on his book tour.

AUSTIN -- Dolia Gonzalez was hoping that this Veterans Day would be the one when Texas would present her only son with the hero's medal that he had paid for with his life nearly 40 years ago.

But at 78, Gonzalez says she doesn't mind waiting a little longer. She takes comfort in the fact that the son she lost on a Vietnam battlefield in February 1968 has not been forgotten. Not by his buddies in the service, not by his hometown in the Rio Grande Valley, not by Congress and not by his beloved Marine Corps.

So waiting for Texas to join the parade is no big deal, said Gonzalez, who works as a restaurant waitress and a grocery store greeter in her hometown of Edinburg. "If I had my way, it would have been done by now," Gonzalez said Thursday in a phone interview. "But I understand that these things take time."

Her son, Marine Sgt. Alfredo "Freddie" Gonzalez, was awarded the Medal of Honor, the military's highest decoration for valor, for his role in repelling an enemy rocket attack during the pivotal Tet offensive. Under fire, he rescued a wounded Marine and led his platoon in taking out heavily fortified enemy positions. Gonzalez was killed while returning rocket fire from his position in a Catholic church.
He was 21 and serving his second tour in Vietnam at the time.

In Edinburg and surrounding communities, Gonzalez's bravery was celebrated. An elementary school and other public facilities were named for him. An American Legion post in a neighboring town bears his name. There's an Alfredo Gonzalez Boulevard at the Marines' Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and an Alfredo Gonzalez mess hall at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.

In 1996, the Navy commissioned the USS Gonzalez, a guided missile destroyer, and Dolia Gonzalez had the honor of cracking the champagne bottle against the bow.
During the 2007 legislative session, lawmakers made Gonzalez the sixth recipient of the Legislative Medal of Honor, saying the honor was long overdue and promising a ceremony befitting a Texas hero.

Nearly six months later, former Alvarado resident John Flores, author of a biography of Gonzalez titled, When the River Dreams, began raising questions about why the medal had not been presented to his mother. Flores, who learned about Gonzalez while working as a reporter for the McAllen Monitor, said many of his Marine comrades are hoping to attend the ceremony.

"I'm calling lawmakers, the governor -- and all I get is the run-around," said Flores, 49, who lives in Albuquerque, N.M. "Freddie's mother deserves to have that medal."

State Rep. Aaron Pena, D-Edinburg, and Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, who sponsored the resolution awarding the medal, said coordinating the schedules of all the dignitaries is proving to be challenging. Neither has been able to obtain a firm commitment from Gov. Rick Perry, who signed the measure into law June 15.

Krista Moody, Perry's spokeswoman, said the governor would like to attend any ceremony for Gonzalez, but nothing has been placed on his schedule. "The medal was awarded [when the resolution was signed into law], but there's no deadline for having a ceremony," Moody said.

Dolia Gonzalez, who was a 16-year-old farm worker when her son was born, said she appreciates the effort made by others to keep her son's memory alive.
"He's with me every day," she said. "He's all I ever had."

John Moritz reports from the Star-Telegram's Austin bureau, 512-476-4294

History 
A legacy of Service: Mexican-American Defenders of California 
By Jennifer C. Vo and John P. Schmal 
Hispanic Columnists Columnists

The state of California is a very special place for many people.  Millions have come here from other parts of the United States and from around the world to live, work, and prosper.  And many of these people embrace their new lives in this western state.  As the world's fifth largest economy, California has a great deal to offer the many people who make their way to the Golden State in search of a better life.

My name is Jennifer Vo and to me and my family, California is a very special place.  This may be due to the fact that – my Chumash Indian ancestry notwithstanding – I am an eleventh-generation Californian of Mexican descent.  In 1781 - when an expedition was organized to bring a small group of civilian settlers from Sonora, Mexico to take part in the founding of El Pueblo de Nuestra la Reina de Los Angeles del Rio Porcioncula - an escort of several dozen Mexican soldiers serving under the flag of Spain were recruited.  One of those soldier recruits who took part in this important expedition was my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Juan Matias Olivas, an Indian from Rosario, Sinaloa.

From my earliest memories, my family has always expressed its pride in its California roots.  When my mother, Sarah Melendez Basulto Evans, was just a teenager, she went to her grandfather's funeral in Oxnard, California.  After the church service, the family had driven to the Santa Clara Cemetery in Oxnard for the burial service.

Recounting that day thirty-nine years ago, Mom told me, "Once the graveside service had ended, my Uncle Simon [Melendez] took me for a long walk, pointing out the various tombstones for many of our ancestors.  I was amazed that he could recount so many stories and names from our family history.  As we walked along, Uncle Simon explained to me that our family had been in California for a very, very long time.  For him, this was a great source of pride.  I remember his words very clearly when he said, 'Our family has known no home but California.  This is where we belong.'  From that day forward, I have always felt a great emotional attachment to California, the land of my ancestors."

Sarah also told me that Uncle Simon had explained to her that our California family has had a long and proud tradition of military service extending back to our earliest California ancestor.  One generation after another had joined the military to defend the only land that we could call home.    And, although Mexican Americans in California have been treated unfairly at times, our resolve to defend this state and this country has never wavered. 

As I was growing up, my mother expressed these sentiments to me, and for this reason, I have always told people that I am proud to be a descendant of the California pioneers.  And, over time, I have gradually learned the details about my family's military service.  From the first moment Juan Matias Olivas entered California - and for the better part of nine generations - my family has played a role in the defense of California. And, in some cases, members of my family had to make the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard the security of California.  Over a period of two centuries, the flags, the causes, and the surnames have changed, but my family's legacy of military service to California has endured.

First Generation:

Juan Matias Olivas was born two and a half centuries ago near Rosario in what is today known as the state of Sinaloa (in the Republic of Mexico).  On May 25, 1777, Juan was married at Nuestra Señora del Rosario Church in Rosario to María Dorotea Espinosa.  Three years later, their second child, José Pablo Olivas, came into the world and was baptized in the same church.   

On August 6, 1780, Juan Matias Olivas, enlisted for ten years as a soldado de cuera (leather-jacket soldier), attached to the Military District of Monterrey of northern Mexico.   Interestingly, Juan Matias' discharge papers of 1798 provide us with his physical description.  He was 5 feet and 2 inches in height and had black hair and black eyes.  In addition, Juan Matias had olive skin and - unlike many of his fellow soldiers - was clean-shaven, an obvious manifestation of his predominant Native American ancestry.

Joining Spain's frontier army offered Juan and his family with great opportunities that were not available to Indians who lived in the Rosario area.  If he had stayed in Rosario, Juan Matias Olivas would have been destined to a life as a poor and lowly Indian laborer, subject to the whims of his hacienda jefe and to a society that classified him within the lower rungs of a racist caste system.

But, as a soldier serving in the Spanish military, Juan Matias would be permitted to ride a horse, carry his own weapon, have access to skilled medical attention, and enjoy free housing.  Such a profession also provided him with retirement benefits and guaranteed that his wife would receive a pension if he died while performing his duties.

At about this time, Captain Fernando Rivera was scouring the coastal cities of Sinaloa and Sonora to find and recruit 59 soldiers and 24 families of pobladores (settlers) who would make up the nucleus of an important expedition to the north.  The ultimate goal of the expedition would be the founding of the Pueblo of Los Angeles and the Military Presidio of Santa Barbara.  In the end, Rivera was only able to recruit twelve families, which would be accompanied by 59 soldiers on the northward journey.

Late in the winter of 1781, the expedition embarked.  The soldier Juan Matias, his wife -María Dorothea Espinosa, then 23 years old - and their two young children, María Nicolasa and José Pablo - took part in the 960-mile journey, arriving at the San Gabriel Mission on August 18, 1781.    In the months following their arrival at the Mission, Juan Matias Olivas and his family were housed with the rest of the soldier families near the mission.   Soon after, on the morning of September 4, 1781, the Pueblo of Los Angeles was founded, with forty-four settlers and several soldiers in attendance.  It is likely that the services of several soldiers - including Juan Matias Olivas - were needed to help the small pueblo get started.  Juan Matias, as a matter of fact, would - after his enlistment ended - make his retirement home in the small pueblo.

Early in the next year, Juan Matias Olivas and forty-one other soldiers made their way to the Santa Barbara Channel, where, on April 21, 1782, the Santa Barbara Presidio was founded.   Not long after, the families followed and the rest of my ancestor's military career would be spent at the Santa Barbara Presidio. 

As a Presidio soldier, Juan Matias Olivas and the other soldiers had a multitude of responsibilities:  Sometimes they delivered the mail to other parts of California or escorted priests to and from their destinations.  A regular escort of fifteen soldiers from Santa Barbara were posted to guard the San Buenaventura Mission. And, of course, there was always the possibility that they would be called upon to take part in an Indian campaign. (The soldados posted in New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and Chihuahua were almost constantly at war with the indigenous groups.   By comparison, California was relatively calm and the Spaniards cultivated their relationships with most of the Indian groups surrounding their presidios.)

After a few years at the Presidio, Dorotea died, leaving poor Juan Matias a widower with six children, including Pablo.  Not long after he was widowed, Juan Matias Olivas was tallied in the 1790 census of the Real Presidio de Santa Barbara. Listed as a 31-year-old widower, Juan Matias was classified was an Indian and a native of Rosario.  Four of his six children were listed as living with Juan Matias.  By now, the entire population of the Santa Barbara Presidio had reached 230 individuals, comprising 24 percent of the entire Hispanic population of Alta California.

In March 1794, Spain declared war against France. Eventually the news of this war arrived in California. The soldiers became acutely aware of the fact that both France and England yearned for the opportunity to take California into their own empires.  But it was not likely that the two hundred and seventy-five soldiers at the four presidios in California could have held off a serious invasion by a foreign power.  Nevertheless, the presidio was their home and steps were taken to safeguard the safety of their families and possessions in case of attack.

On June 1, 1794, Juan Matias married his second wife, Juana de Dios Ontiveros, at the San Gabriel Mission.  After their marriage, Matias and Juana had several children.  Then, on November 23, 1798, Juan Matias Olivas, now 40 years of age, was discharged from the military after eighteen years of service.  Two years later, Juan Matias Olivas and his family took up residence in the small pueblo of Los Angeles.  By this time, the small pueblo had seventy families, 315 people, and consisted of thirty small adobe houses.    He died a few years later.

Second Generation:

My great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, José Pablo Olivas, the son of Juan Matias and Dorotea, had been born in Rosario, Sinaloa, on January 25, 1780 as the legitimate son of Juan Matias Olivas and Dorothea Espinosa.  But, from the age of two, Pablo grew up within the walls of the Santa Barbara Presidio.  Living at close quarters with fifty other families was no easy chore, but the inhabitants of the garrison were united in their camaraderie as the families of soldiers.  As a child, José Pablo attended the same church services as his future wife, María Luciana Fernández, the first-born child of another presidial soldier, José Rosalino Fernández.

Around the turn of the century, José Pablo Olivas stepped into his father's footsteps and became a soldier of the presidio.  In a roster of individuals dated February 17, 1804, Pablo Olivas was listed as one of the fifty-four soldiers on active duty at the Santa Barbara Presidio.  Four years earlier, he had married María Luciana Fernández.  Between 1801 and 1812, José Pablo and María Luciana would have eight children, including my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, José Dolores de Jesus Olivas, who was baptized on Nov. 3, 1802 at Santa Barbara, and would represent the third generation of soldiers in my family.

Mexico's struggle for independence against Spain began on the night of September 15/16, 1810 when a mild-mannered Creole priest, Father Miguel de Hidalgo y Castillo, published his famous outcry against tyranny from his parish in the village of Dolores. His impassioned speech - referred to as Grito de Hidalgo ("Cry of Hidalgo") - set into motion a process that would not end until August 24, 1821 with the signing of the Treaty of Córdova.

From 1810 through 1821, Mexico's war of liberation interfered with the arrival of Spanish supply ships in California. Eventually, supplies dwindled to a mere trickle, making the California presidios more dependent upon the local missions for food supplies and manufactured items.  By 1813, the Commandant of Santa Barbara informed the Governor that his soldiers were without shirts and had little food; in addition, the presidio soldiers received no pay for three years, and pensions were suspended.  Four years later, on December 16, 1817, José Pablo Olivas, the second-generation soldier, died.

Third Generation:

José Pablo died when his son José Dolores Olivas was only fifteen years of age.  It was during this period of intense upheaval that José Dolores Olivas stepped into his father's shoes and served as a third-generation soldado de cuera.  José Dolores Olivas was actually the first of my Olivas ancestors to be born in California, and he would become the third generation of Olivas men to become a soldado de cuera at the Santa Barbara Presidio.  It was his destiny to see the transition of California as it passed from the hands of the Spanish empire to the newly independent Mexican state.  And he would serve as a soldier to both nations.

In 1821, Mexico had finally achieved independence from Spain, and on April 1822, the California soldiers were notified the revolt had been successful.  Almost immediately, the California presidios lowered the Spanish flag and California became a province of the new nation.  On April 13, 1822, José Dolores Olivas and the other soldiers at the Santa Barbara Presidio took their oath of allegiance to the new government in Mexico City. 

On June 14, 1829, José Dolores de Jesus Olivas was married to María Gertrudis Valenzuela at Mission Santa Ynez.  Dolores Olivas was listed as a single soldado de cuera and a native of the Santa Barbara.  His bride, Gertrudis, was a daughter of another presidio soldier, Antonio Maria Valenzuela and his wife, María Antonia Feliz.  María Gertrudis Valenzuela had been baptized sixteen years earlier on June 7, 1813 at the San Gabriel Mission.  Like her husband, she was the daughter of a presidial soldier and had spent most of her early years growing up at the presidio.

As José Dolores and Gertrudis prepared to start their family in 1830, they took their position as members of the growing Santa Barbara presidial community, which now numbered 604. Between 1830 and 1850, José Dolores and Gertrudis became the parents of twelve children.  My great-great-great-great-grandmother, María Antonia Olivas, born in February 1834, was the fourth-born child of this group, although she shared that position with her twin sister.

After serving out his term of enlistment, Dolores Olivas retired from the military and became an agricultural laborer.  He and his family continued to live in the vicinity of the presidio.  It was during this time that President James K. Polk of the United States devised a strategy for snatching California from the hands of the Mexican Republic.

In the fall of 1845, President Polk sent his representative John Slidell to Mexico. Slidell was supposed to offer Mexico $25,000,000 to accept the Rio Grande boundary with Texas and to sell New Mexico, Arizona, and California to the U.S.  However, the President of Mexico turned this down, and in May 1846 Polk led his country into war. 

The Mexican-American War in California ended on January 13, 1847 with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga.  A year later, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February 2, 1848, ending all hostilities between the two nations.  By the provisions of this treaty, Mexico handed over to the United States 525,000 square miles of land, almost half of her national territory.  In compensation, the U.S. paid $15,000,000 for the land and met other financial obligations to Mexico.  By the provisions of this peace treaty, the Mexican citizens living in California were offered American citizenship and full protection of the law.

The area which Mexico transferred to American control in 1848 contained a population of 82,500 Mexican citizens, 7,500 of which lived in California.  Two years later, on September 9, 1850, California was admitted to the Union as the thirty-first state.  During the Federal Census of the same year, my ancestor, José Dolores Olivas - now an American citizen - was tallied in his Santa Barbara residence as the head of a household of eleven.  My ancestor would die a few years later.

Fourth Generation:

At the time of the 1850 census, my great-great-great-great-grandmother, María Antonia Olivas, was only 15 years of age.  María Antonia Olivas was truly a daughter of the Californian military establishment.  She was descended from five pioneer California families (Olivas, Fernández, Valenzuela, Feliz and Quintero) and lived at the Santa Barbara Presidio which four of her soldado ancestors had helped to found.  Her father (José Dolores Olivas) was a retired soldier. Both of her grandfathers were California soldiers (José Pablo Olivas and Antonio María Valenzuela), as were all four of her great-grandfathers (Juan Matias Olivas, José Rosalino Fernandez, Pedro Gabriel Valenzuela, and Anastacio María Feliz).

On November 30, 1849, María Antonia Olivas was married to José Apolinario Esquivel, a native of Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico, at the Santa Barbara Mission.  The two of them relocated to the San Buenaventura Township to raise their family and tend their crops. Her brother, José Victoriano Olivas, four years younger than she was, would become the fourth generation Olivas to serve as a soldier in the defense of California.

The American Civil War (1861-1865) divided the American people into two camps and resulted in more casualties than any other war in American history.  Many of the hostilities in this war took place in the eastern half of North America, especially in the Southern states.  For the most part, California - which was a Union state - seemed removed from most of the battlefields and action that was taking place.

In 1863, as the Civil War raged in the eastern and southern states, the United States Government became concerned about possible Confederate incursions into New Mexico and other Union-held areas.  In order to avoid such confrontations, the U.S. Government authorized the military governor of California to organize four military companies of Mexican-American Californians into a cavalry battalion in order to utilize their "extraordinary horsemanship." 

Major Salvador Vallejo was selected to command this new California militia, with its five hundred soldiers of Spanish and Mexican descent.  Company C of the First California Native Cavalry was organized under Captain Antonio María de la Guerra.  María Antonia’s brother José Victoriano Olivas joined this company, which was made up of native troopers from Santa Barbara County.  This battalion primarily served in California and Arizona, guarding supply trains, and helped defeat a Confederate invasion of New Mexico.  José Victoriano Olivas would thus become the fourth generation of the Olivas family to serve in the military.  And this service had now been extended to three flags (Spain, Mexico, and the United States).

Fifth Generation:

My ancestor Regina Esquivel was born in 1851 as the daughter of José Apolinario Esquivel and María Antonia Olivas and as an American citizen. Nineteen years later, on January 3, 1870, Regina Esquivel was united in marriage with Gregorio Ortega at the San Buenaventura Mission. Gregorio was a laborer who had emigrated from southern Mexico in the 1860s.  Over the next two decades, Gregorio and Regina would become the parents of eighteen children.

Sixth Generation:

On September 16, 1875, Gregorio Ortega and Regina Esquivel became the parents of Valentine Ortega. Eighteen years later, Valentine was united in marriage with one 18-year-old Theodora Tapia, a native of the Los Angeles area.  Valentine and Theodora had five children in all, including Isabel (born in 1902), Paz (born in 1906) and Luciano P. Ortega (born in 1908). 

During the early Twentieth Century, this family lived in the Saticoy District of Ventura County, California.   Saticoy was nine miles east of the county seat, the City of Ventura.  In 1918, at the age of forty-three years, my great-great-grandfather Valentine Ortega fell victim to the worldwide influenza epidemic that ravaged the American continent at the end of World War I.

Seventh Generation:

As Isabel Ortega and her siblings grew up, they witnessed what would eventually be called the First World War.  Initially the war broke out in Europe and, it was not until three years later that America would join this conflict, with its declaration of war on Germany on April 6, 1917.  During this war, the American military was rife with discrimination against Hispanic and African-American soldiers. Soldiers with Spanish surnames or Spanish accents were sometimes the object of ridicule and relegated to menial jobs, while African Americans were segregated into separate units.  Some Hispanic Americans who lacked English skills were sent to special training centers to improve their language proficiency so that they could be integrated into the mainstream army.

My great-grandmother, Isabel Ortega, married Refugio Melendez, an immigrant laborer from Penjamo, Guanajuato.  Refugio and Isabel met during the 1920s and their first-born child was my grandmother, Theodora (Dora) Melendez, who was born in November 1927.  Dora was followed two years later by my Uncle Raymundo Melendez.  Isabel and Refugio raised their family in Saticoy, living right across the street from the Ortega family during the 1930s and 1940s. 

The Great Depression was a difficult time for my family as it was for most American families.  But the beginning of World War II was an ominous event for all Americans.  For three years, the United States avoided this war, which pitted the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) against a multitude of other nations, including Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China.

On December 7, 1941, everything changed.  The surprise attack on the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii would bring America into this struggle against tyranny. And when Uncle Sam called for recruits, his call was answered.  By the end of the war in September 1945, sixteen million men and women had worn the uniform of America's armed forces. 

At the time of America's entry into World War II (1941), approximately 2,690,000 Americans of Mexican ancestry lived in the United States.  Eighty-five percent of this population lived in the five southwestern states (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado).  Like other ethnic groups, Mexican Americans responded in great number to our nation's dilemma.  At least 350,000 Chicanos served in the armed services and seventeen Hispanic individuals won the Congressional Medal of Honor.  

California played an important role in World War II.  Eighteen California National Guard Divisions were sent overseas, and thousands of men enlisted or were drafted.  According to the United States War Department, California - containing 5.15% of the population of the United States - contributed 5.53% of the total number who entered the Army.  Of these men and women from California who went to war, 3.09% failed to return home, representing 5.54% of the American casualties

In 1942, my great-uncle Luciano P. Ortega - the brother of my great-grandmother Isabel - was drafted into the armed forces.  For some reason, his name was Americanized to Joseph P. Ortega while he was in the service, but our family has always called him Luciano.  Luciano was attached to the 34th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division, which was on the front lines in the war against Japan. 

During October and November 1944, the 24th Infantry Division was involved in the campaign to eject the Japanese from Leyte in the Philippine Islands.  Then, on November 19, 1944, Uncle Luciano was killed in action.  He was buried in the Manila American Cemetery in the capital city.  My uncle by marriage, Joseph Torres (the husband of Lucy Ortega) - who also served in the Philippines - saw Uncle Luciano's grave and informed the family of where the body had been laid to rest.  However, my great-great-grandmother, Theodora Tapia Ortega, never reconciled herself to her son's death and refused to accept it.  Instead, she continued to believe that he was missing in action and would someday return home to Saticoy.

Eighth Generation:

The eighth generation of my family was involved in two wars:  World War II and the Korean War.  Late in World War II, Chello O. Ortega, the son of Paz Ortega (a sister of Luciano and Isabel Ortega) and Laurencio Ortega, went to war.  He was the second Ortega to go to the Army from Saticoy and  - like his uncle Luciano - was sent to the Pacific Theater.  On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany had surrendered unconditionally to Allied forces.  However, the war in the Pacific Theater continued unabated.

On June 27, 1945, a month-and-a-half after Nazi Germany had surrendered, the Oxnard Press Courier announced that Chello Ortega from Saticoy was missing in action in the Pacific Theater.  Nine days later, on July 6, 1945, the same newspaper announced the sad news that Chello Ortega had been killed in action (although his exact date of death is not known to us).  Less than two months later, Japan would surrender and peace would finally come to America after three years and nine months of war.

As World War II drew to an end, the three Melendez brothers - sons of Refugio Melendez and Isabel Ortega and brothers to my grandmother Dora - were teenagers.  Raymond (Raymundo) Ortega Melendez had been born in 1929 and yearned to join the military.  In 1945, at the age of 17 - with his parents' permission - Ray entered the American armed forces.  This would mark the beginning of a long military career, which would take him through the Korean and Vietnam Wars before his retirement in 1969.

The Korean War began in 1950, only five years after the end of World War II.  The participation of Mexican Americans and other Hispanics in the Korean War was such that the Department of Defense publication, Hispanics in America's Defense (Collingdale, Pennsylvania: Diane Publishing Co., 1997), has paid tribute to their contribution:  "The Korean Conflict saw many Hispanic Americans responding to the call of duty.  They served with distinction in all of the services…. Many Mexican Americans from barrios in Los Angeles, San Antonio, Laredo, Phoenix, and Chicago saw fierce action in Korea. Fighting in almost every combat unit in Korea, they distinguished themselves through courage and bravery as they had in previous wars."

By the end of the Korean War, all three of my grandmother's brothers, Raymond, Donald (Danny) and Simon would join the United States Army.   During this war, Uncle Ray served as an airborne paratrooper for many years.  But my Uncle Simon Melendez's experiences in the Korean War are the stuff that legends are made of.

Born on October 28, 1930, Simon Ortega Melendez was raised in Saticoy and attended Ventura Junior High School and Ventura City College.  When the Korean War started, Simon joined the 2nd Division of the U.S. Army and became a machine gunner.  It would be Uncle Simon's destiny to take part in two of the bloodiest battles of the Korean War.  The "Battle of Bloody Ridge" began in August 1951 and continued up until September 12, 1951.   On August 27, Simon was hit in the neck and legs by mortar shrapnel and in the back by grenade fragments.  At the same time, he was separated from his platoon.  For seven days, he was behind enemy lines and disoriented by torrential rains that made his weapon inoperable.

The rain did not stop until the sixth day, and on the seventh day he was able to make his way into the area of the 9th U.S. Regiment.  When asked how he managed to make his way through enemy lines for seven days, 21-year-old Simon explained that "my extreme faith in God brought me through."  Soon after this, Uncle Simon was able to have a three-day reunion with his brother Ray near the front lines.  Raymond, who had already been in the service for six years, was a paratrooper and had been stationed about a 100 miles from Simon's position.  Soon after, Simon was once again in the thick of the fighting when his unit took part in the "Battle of Heartbreak Ridge," which lasted from September 13 to October 22, 1951. 

The Battles of Bloody Ridge and Heartbreak Ridge were the two bloodiest battles of the Korean War.  By the time he left the service, Simon had been awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts.  He also founded the Mexican-American Korean War Veterans of Ventura County and became a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.  Simon Melendez, the proud Korean War veteran, died at the age of 71 on June 15, 2002, surrounded by a family that adored him.  Even to this day, Uncle Simon's memory remains strong with me and my family, in large part because he had a larger than life personality that endeared him to everyone.

Donald Ortega Melendez, who was born in 1936, entered the service in 1954 at the tail end of the Korean War.  Like his brother Raymond, he initially joined the paratroopers.  During his first stint overseas, Donald was assigned to the 9th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry division.  He did three separate hitches overseas and was on service during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.  Uncle Donald spent 25 years in the military and achieved the rank of First Sergeant before he retired in 1979.

Uncle Ray, also an airborne paratrooper, served all around the world at one time or another and achieved the rank of Command Sergeant Major by the time he retired in 1969.  Like Donald, Uncle Ray was a career military person and does not feel that he is at liberty to discuss his military service in great detail.  Uncle Simon - after his Korean War service - had been offered a promotion too, but he decided that he was ready for civilian life.

Ninth Generation:

Four members of our family's eighth generation served in the military, possibly even more that I do not know about.  But the military tradition has carried through to the present generations and the number of Ninth Generation family members who have served in the military is hard to tally.  Luciano Ortega's daughter, Geraldine, joined the military for a long period of time.  Donald's son Daniel Melendez followed in his father's step and served as a paratrooper from 1970 to 1982.  Uncle Simon had two sons who spent a number of years in the military:  Ricardo Melendez served in the air force and Roy enlisted in the U.S. Marines.

When he was twenty years old, my mother's brother, Eusebio Javier Melendez Basulto followed in our family's military tradition by enlisting in the U.S. Army.  He served in Military Intelligence with MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) Unit 406 ASA, where he achieved the rank of Specialist, Fourth Class.  Uncle Eusebio's military career lasted from 1973 to 1985, a total of 12 years, after which he became a chemist in the civilian world.

During the extended Vietnam Conflict (1963-1973), approximately 80,000 Hispanic Americans served in the American military. Although Hispanics made up only about 4.5% of the total U.S. population at that time, they incurred more than 19% of the casualties. In all, thirteen Hispanic soldiers received the Medal of Honor during this conflict.

Continuing this trend of service into the last decade of the Twentieth Century, twenty thousand Hispanic servicemen and women participated in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm (1990-1991). Writing in Hispanic Heritage Month 1996: Hispanics - Challenging the Future, Army Chaplain (Captain) Carlos C. Huerta of the First Battalion, 79th Field Artillery stated that "Hispanics have always met the challenge of serving the nation with great fervor. In every war, in every battle, on every battlefield, Hispanics have put their lives on the line to protect freedom."

As Mexican-American citizens of California, my family has carried on a proud tradition of military service.  When our nation has been in need, my ancestors - from the earliest days in California - answered the call with a sense of pride and obligation.  This sense of duty is a deeply held tradition to all Mexican-Americans. 

Although I have inherited my dark eyes and thick dark hair from my Mexican ancestors, I am also German and Anglo-American through my father's side of the family.  For this reason, it is not readily evident to some people that I am Mexican-American.   As a result, I have - on occasion - heard friends and acquaintances express less than flattering opinions about Mexican immigrants or Mexican Americans.

Such comments and criticisms - although they were undoubtedly based on ignorance or fear - hurt me and were an affront to my family's pride and dignity.  I can only say - in response to such hurtful comments - that I hope those people are reading this article.  If I could speak to them today, I would tell them that my family - for two centuries - has been fighting for their freedom.  And when my Uncle Luciano Ortega and my Cousin Chello Ortega were killed in action during World War II, they were sacrificing their lives for the freedom of all Californians.

DEDICATION:  This work is dedicated to my ancestors who have defended California for two centuries:

1. José Matias Olivas - Soldier in the Service of Spain, 1781-1798

2. José Pablo Olivas - Soldier in the Service of Spain, 1804-1817

3. José Dolores Olivas - Soldier in the Service of Spain and Mexico

4. José Victoriano Olivas - Civil War Veteran  (1863-1865)

5. Joseph Luciano Ortega - World War II -

            Killed in action, Philippine Islands, November 19, 1944

6. Chello Ortega - World War II -

            Killed in action, Pacific Theater, June 1945

7. Raymond Ortega Melendez, Korean War Veteran and Career Soldier (1945-1969)

8. Donald Ortega Melendez, Korean War Veteran and Career Soldier (1954-1979)

9.  Simon Ortega Melendez, Korean War Veteran

10. Eusebio Basulto, Jr., Specialist, Fourth Class in Military Intelligence (1973-1985).

Special Acknowledgments:  We thank Eva Melendez Aubert, Dora Melendez Basulto, Eusebio Basulto, Donald Ortega Melendez, Sarah Basulto Evans, and the Simon Ortega Melendez family for their valuable contributions to this tribute.

Copyright  © 2004, by Jennifer Vo and John P. Schmal.  
All rights under applicable law are hereby reserved. 

Sources:  
Interviews conducted by Jennifer Vo, Sarah Basulto Evans, and John Schmal.  
Spanish and Mexican military research conducted by Robert Lopez and John Schmal.

California Archives, Provincial State Papers, 1767-1822 (Archives of California, Bancroft Library, U.C. Berkeley).

Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Military Manpower and Personnel Policy, U.S. Department of Defense. Hispanics in America's Defense (Collingdale, Pennsylvania: Diane Publishing Co., 1997).

Robert S. Whitehead, Citadel on the Channel: The Royal Presidio of Santa Barbara:  Its Founding and Construction, 1782-1798 (Santa Barbara: Santa Barbara Trust for Historical Preservation, 1996).

War Department. The Adjutant Generals Office. Administrative Services Division. Strength Accounting Branch. World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel from California, 1946 - from Record Group 407: Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1917- [AGO], 1905 - 1981

American Battle Monuments Commission. “National World War II Memorial”  Online: http://www.wwiimemorial.com/ 2003.

Jennifer Vo and John P. Schmal, A Mexican-American Family of California: In the Service of Three Flags (Heritage Books, 2004).  

(John P. Schmal is a SHHAR Board member.) 

NATIONAL ISSUES

Adelante, compañero, siempre adelante. Desde Calacalandia,
El Chairman y La Comandante CHElo

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT GRAND GOVERNING COUNCIL
MINISTRY FOR INFORMATION
P.O. Box 13521
Minneapolis MN 55414
612/ 721-3914 . fax 612/ 721-7826
Email: aimggc@worldnet.att.net
Web Address: www.aimovement.org

ACTION ITEMS

WHY WASN’T WWII  HERO GUY GABALDON GIVEN THE MEDAL OF HONOR? CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES TO PETITION CONGRESS TO “GIVE GUY THE MEDAL”

New York, NY February 20 --  Who was the 5’ 4” dynamo who, in military history, sits somewhere between Sergeant York and Audie Murphy? Hailed the “Pied Piper of Saipan,” Guy Gabaldon accomplished the impossible by single-handedly capturing 1500 Japanese prisoners.  Never in the history of the United States military had one man captured that many of the enemy.  

Guy, of Hispanic descent, grew up in East Los Angeles and as a youngster became close friends with a number of Japanese-American families that helped raise him.  Through his close relationships with the Japanese, he learned their language, culture and customs. Little did he know then how his upbringing and street knowledge would help him to become an American hero – while simultaneously saving so many “enemy” lives.

When Pearl Harbor was attacked, Gabaldon’s close Japanese-American friends were all shipped to internment camps.   Doing what he felt was what his family expected of him, he joined the Marines. Even though he was under regulation height and had a perforated ear drum, his knowledge of some Japanese language and culture, secured him a place in the intelligence section of the 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division.

During the battle of Saipan, the U.S. lost 4,000 Marines and Army personnel. Against orders, Gabaldon would travel by himself into enemy territory, use a few salty slang Japanese words and capture prisoners.  Two here, three there, until one day in July 1944, he grabbed 800 prisoners.  But these were not only military – they were also civilians -- women and children, who, if not for Guy, would have been killed as casualties of war.   His weapon was not his military tools, but his compassion and straight-forward Japanese words convincing them to come with him for safety.  Some of them were even Japanese Imperial Marines who were told by Tokyo to never surrender.

By simply going to getguythemedal.com, those who believe Guy should have received the Medal of Honor can sign the petition to award Guy the honor he should have received sixty years ago.

 And for those interested in learning more about Guy’s story, they can also visit getguythemedal.com to pre-order a copy of the documentary The Untold True Story of Guy Gabaldon.

Jill Goldstein
jill@jgoldsteinpr.com
212-463-7300
131 Varick St  
Suite 1028  
New York, NY 10013  
212-463-7300

Thank you. Rafael Ojeda
http://www.camp-john-wise-aerostation.com/
http://www.af.mil/history/overview.asp

Rafael's PP presentation on the History of Hispanics in the Air Force will be made available online for public use.  Tony Santiago is preparing a PP presentation on the History of Hispanics in the US Marine Corps, and Dan Arellano is preparing one on the History of Hispanics in the US Army.  

Is anyone with a connection to the Navy up to the challenge of preparing a PP presentation on the History of Hispanics in the US Navy?  We expect that once again Ken Burns and PBS will choose Hispanic Heritage Month to air THE WAR series for local PBS stations to use for fall fund raising. We are hoping to have these PP presentations available to counteract the negative effects of Ken Burns work.   

Editor:  Frank Sifuentes sent this photo of his nephew's Samuel Martinez's family.  Frank writes that "Sammy" was in the U.S. Marines and took part in the military operation during papa Bush, the Grenada war during Reagan's
administration and in Desert Storm. In 2004 he did a tour in Iraq.

Write to our soldiers and say thanks.
http://www.letssaythanks.com/

EDUCATION

(Left to right) Perry Moore, Texas State provost; Reed Richardson, chair, Texas State agriculture department; Fred Solis, Laredo Community College vice president of instruction sign guaranteed admissions agreement.

Sent by Joe Castillo  joe.castillo@tx-lulac.org

BILINGUAL EDUCATION

You can also contact me directly at acervant@crsassociates.net or call me
at (818) 388-9303 to order or ask any questions.  
Angel R. Cervantes
"Cervantes Books"
www.cervanteskids.homestead.com

The future of our children depends on our ability to teach them to be culturally sensitive, open minded, and to become people of conscience.
They can only love and respect OTHERS if they love and respect THEMSELVES...  It is my goal, through my books, to teach children to look at themselves and their history and to be PROUD. 
                                                               Angel R. Cervantes  

Sent by Dr. Carlos Munoz, Jr. cmjr@berkeley.edu

Carter was an activist scholar and pioneer in Mexican American education. His considerable interactions with South Americans, Mexicans, and Mexican Americans served as a foundation that forged a lifelong commitment working toward equal educational opportunities for Mexican American students.

It is clear from his biographical information that Dr. George I. Sanchez, whom Carter studied under while pursuing his doctorate in education at The University of Texas at Austin, helped to shape Carter's anti-deficit thinking perspective and structural analysis approach in doing research on Mexican American students. In this tribute to Carter, author Richard Valencia focuses on four of Carter's major accomplishments: (a) his 1970 classic book, Mexican Americans in School; (b) his influence on the education chapter in the Grebler, Moore, and Guzman (1970) book, The Mexican-American People: The Nation's Second Largest Minority; (c) his influence on the landmark U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Mexican American Education Study of 1971–1974; and (d) his role as an expert witness in Mexican American-initiated litigation, particularly the highly significant Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District (1970) school desegregation case. Based on these accomplishments, in particular, Dr. Thomas P. Carter emerged as one of the foremost contributors of his time in advancing the field of Mexican American education. As well, he needs to be acknowledged for assisting the Mexican American people in their quest for educational equality.

http://www.leaonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s1532771xjle0504_2?cookieSet=1&journalCode=jle
Sent by Rafael Ojeda

CULTURE

By Mary Rourke, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 6, 2008  

Gustavo Arriola, a cartoonist who created "Gordo," a pioneering comic strip that celebrated Latino culture and traditions, has died. He was 90. Arriola died Saturday of complications from cancer and Parkinson's disease at his home in Carmel, said his wife Mary Frances.

Known as "Gus," Arriola launched his cartoon in 1941 featuring Gordo Lopez, a Mexican bean farmer, as the main character. By the late 1940s "Gordo" was published seven days a week, a schedule that continued until the last cartoon appeared in March 1985.

At the height of its popularity in the 1960s, "Gordo" appeared in 270 newspapers, historian Robert C. Harvey said. It was "the most visible ethnic comic strip in America and its creator the most visible American of Mexican descent working as a syndicated cartoonist," said Harvey, coauthor with Arriola of "Accidental Ambassador Gordo," published in 2000.

Originally, the character was a fat, lazy bumpkin who spoke with a thick accent. After Arriola's readers complained about the stereotype, the cartoonist transformed Gordo into a slimmed-down tour guide who drove a rickety bus named for Halley's Comet, a hint at how rarely the vehicle actually came around.

Gordo lived in rural Mexico, dressed in sombreros and a charro outfit. His companions included a menagerie of farm animals including Señor Dog. Eventually Gordo married his housekeeper, Tehuana Mama. 
Donkeys, cactus, clay pots and other bits from rural life dotted the scenery.

When "Gordo" premiered, "it was the only nationally distributed comic strip with a Mexican milieu," Harvey said. Later, when the bean farmer became a tour guide, Harvey said, "There was nothing like 'Gordo' on the planet."

The strip was known for its gentle humor and a story that followed Gordo's romantic adventures, his bickering with his nephew Pepito, and other events from his daily life that made him a Latino Everyman.

Arriola's Sunday cartoon included frames that stood alone as abstract artworks.

"The Sunday strip was a stunning
composition with lively line work and dazzling colors," said Malcolm Whyte, founder of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. Arriola evoked Mexican cut-paper designs in some of his drawings. He used Latino festivals and folklore in some strips and often returned to ecological themes that related to rural Mexico.

Arriola was born July 23, 1917, in Florence, Ariz., the youngest of nine children. His father was a native of Sonora, Mexico, who moved to the United States in the 1980s. His mother was born in California.

When Arriola was 8, the family relocated to Los Angeles. He graduated from Manual Arts High School, where he received his formal art training.

After graduation Arriola got a job in animation at the Charles Mintz Studio in Los Angeles.

He next went to the cartoon studio at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1937. He became an assistant animator and worked on the popular "Tom & Jerry" cartoons.

Arriola met artist Mary Frances Sevier at MGM. They married in 1943 and had one son, Carlin, who inspired the character of Pepito, Gordo's nephew, in the comic strip.

Carlin Arriola died in 1980, at age 35, of injuries suffered in an automobile accident. In addition to his wife, Arriola is survived by a grandchild and two great-grandchildren.

One year after the United Feature agency began syndicating "Gordo," Arriola joined the U.S. Army Air Forces, serving in a motion picture unit during World War II.

He launched his Sunday cartoon while he was in the service and resumed his weekday comic strip after being discharged in 1946.

For the first 20 years of "Gordo," Arriola relied on books, articles and photographs about Mexico. Finally, he visited the country for the first time in 1960.

From then on, he told Harvey, "I tried to work it all into the strip. The history, the culture, the folk art, as seen through Gordo's eyes."

Sent by Armando Rendon, Ph.D and 
armandorendon@sbcglobal.net
510-219-9139

Cartoonist Gus Arriola, whose comic strip about a Mexican bean farmer-turned-tourist guide appeared in 
The Chronicle for 43 years and was syndicated in 220 newspapers, died Saturday at his home in Carmel, according to his publicist.  He was 90 years old and had suffered from Parkinson's disease, according to the publicist, Alan Richman.

Arriola's Gordo strip was one of the first cartoons in the United States to celebrate Mexican culture, albeit through the slightly overweight anti-hero Gordo Lopez, who had a penchant for charro suits and female tourists.

The strip also had a cast of animal characters, including Señor Dog and Pussy Gato, that Gordo tended to and who offered him bits of philosophical wisdom. Arriola published the last strip on March 2, 1985.

In an interview with The Chronicle several years after he retired, Arriola said he drew the comic strip for an audience that knew little about Mexico or its culture.  "My main goal was to maintain a positive awareness of Mexico through all the years, every day, without being political," he said in 1989. "When I started, words like 'burrito' were unknown in the United States."

 

Although his didn't visit Mexico himself until 1961, Arriola learned about Mexican culture from his father, who was born on a hacienda in the Mexican state of Sonora, and from growing up as the youngest of nine children in Florence, Ariz., about 120 miles northwest of the border. He would later recall that he learned to speak English by reading the Sunday funny pages.

His family moved to Los Angeles, and Arriola grew up in the shadow of the world's major animation studios. He graduated from Manual Arts High School and immediately took a job animating Krazy Kat at Columbia and later did story-sketch work for the Tom and Jerry cartoon at MGM before starting Gordo. It was there that he met his wife, Mary
Frances, to whom he was married for more than 65 years. She was at hisside when he died.

The strip incorporated part of Arriola's own life. Gordo - whom Arriola called his "alter ego" - had a nephew named Pepito who over the years Arriola identified with his only son, Carlin. As Carlin grew up, so did Pepito, passing milestones such as starting a rock band and eventually leaving home.

Carlin Arriola died in 1980 after a long illness, and Pepito no longer appeared in the strip. In the final cartoon, Pepito appears as a voice on a tape recording.

Arriola ended the strip with Gordo marrying Tehuana Mama, his housekeeper, in a plot involving subliminal mind control and interplanetary travel. He will particularly be remembered for his charm with female tourists.

"Long ago, a friend asked me why Gordo only drove women tourists," Arriola said in 1989. "In the strip, Gordo says, 'Life is short. And I don't want my last sight on Earth to be some hairy-legged man with a cigar.' "
 
Plans for a memorial service are pending. Chronicle news services contributed to this report. E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

Sent by Dorinda Moreno fuerzmundial@gmail.com

LEGENDS OF LATIN ROCK
by Joel Selvin_ (mailto:jselvin@sfchronicle.com) 
Sunday, January 20, 2008, San Francisco Chronicle

Of all the surprising developments to come out of San Francisco rock during the Fillmore/Avalon era in the late '60s, none was richer in cultural wealth than the emergence of Latin rock after the success of Santana. It was a short, golden moment for young Latino musicians, when things were  possible that had not been previously dreamed of, and it coincided with the rise  of Chicano culture - Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union and a growing sense of ethnic pride that took root in the Mission District.  Latin rock, like most pop music trends, came and went, but it left a lasting imprint on those who remembered. For the past four years, Mission District 
dentist Bernardo Gonzalez, also manager of veteran Latin rockers Malo since 1985, has been throwing a remarkable event called Voices of Latin Rock, which will take place Thursday at Bimbo's 365 Club.

Without advertising or promotion, this annual benefit for autism sells out. Families buy entire tables, and old friends stand in the aisles talking, while a  procession of the greatest Latin rock musicians take the stage. Last year, the surviving members of the original Santana band played together at Bimbo's for the first time in more than 20 years. The event began in 2004 as  a publication party for a book, "Voices of Latin Rock," by authors Jim McCarthy,  a British music journalist, and Ron Sansoe, Gonzalez's partner in managing  Malo.

"We didn't make any money the first year," said Gonzalez. "In fact, it cost us a little bit, but the people wanted to have another one. Each year we expected to be the last." The original Latin rock bubble didn't last long - Santana's first three albums sold millions between 1969 and 1971 - but the effect on young Latin musicians throughout the country was incalculable. Conga player Michael Carabello and timbales samurai Jose "Chepito" Areas of Santana brought the fire  of the Aztec gods to their band's blues-rock foundations. It was flavored with a  taste of their parents' music, the mambo and rumba records by Tito Puente and Willie Bobo they heard growing up. 

Gonzalez remembers seeing Santana's groundbreaking performance in the Woodstock movie when he was 15 years old. "Talk about a life-changing experience," he said. "When I saw that, I no longer wanted to be a baseball  player or a football player. It still gives me goose bumps."

Jose Simon played in country and western bands before he joined Sapo, the Latin rock band formed by Richard Bean after he left Malo. Bean wrote the Malo hit "Suavecito" when he was an 11th-grader at Mission High. "Before that, I was just a musician making a living," Simon said in an interview last year for "American Sabor," the current exhibition at the Experience Music Project museum in Seattle. "No pride, it was just making a  living, a good musician supporting my family, but when I played with Sapo, it  was more than that. It was like 'I'm proud to be Jose Simon playing to my people with my people and other people,' and the sound, and it made me proud."

Not since Ritchie Valens, an anomalous '50s Latino rock 'n' roller, had music with a Latino accent been heard at the top of the pop charts. Latino rock musicians found themselves swept up in a cultural movement. The bands all played  benefits for Chavez's United Farm Workers. Chicano artwork decorated the album  covers that could have come straight off the murals painted on Mission District  walls. 

But these young musicians were not just following the Afro-Cuban traditions of their musical forebears. They were fed by distinctly American tributaries. Jorge Santana, lead guitarist of Malo and younger brother of Carlos Santana, grew up with nine people living together in a two-bedroom Mission District apartment after his mariachi musician father moved the family from Tijuana.

"I can go right now to any Mexican restaurant," said Santana, and "as soon as I hear mariachi, my heart just melts from the experience of having grown up listening to it, as well as my father having played it all his life. It's built  in me. I think it was the circumstances of my sisters, modern radio, Dick Clark  and everything else that was taking place at that time - Motown, rhythm and  blues, the English Invasion, everything. We had a different ear, or we were  listening to this new music that we didn't get a chance to listen to as much in  Tijuana when we were there."

The Santana band immediately became famous in its neighborhood. Musician and
educator John Santos, who will also be honored at Bimbo's and grew up in the Mission, remembered how inspirational the band was when he was growing up. "They started talking about Carlos, because he was in high school at Mission High School with my older brothers and my older cousins," he said, "and they started telling us about, 'Hey, there's this electric guitar player that is using timbales and congas.' And we knew very well what the timbales and congas were because my grandfather's band used that and we had grown up with those instruments."  Musicians like Santos carry the Santana sound in their hearts. 

While Latin rock may not be hitting the best-seller charts today, it has never gone away. 
a Ventana or Mestizo keep the sound alive. Los  Lobos has carried the flag for many years, coming from East Los Angeles, where  Latin rock musicians have a lineage going back to '60s garage bands such as Thee  Midnighters or the Premiers. 

The people involved in the San Francisco Latin rock scene carried their pride with them. Abel Sanchez, who played in a number of Mission District bands and  will head the house band at Bimbo's, went on to work as an administrator for the  Postal Service and eventually played a key role in the campaign to create a  Cesar Chavez stamp. Simon of Sapo went to work as a stand-up comic and founded  the annual Comedy Day in Golden Gate Park. Malo continues to perform -and will  appear this week at Bimbo's and at the satellite concert Saturday at Redwood  City's Little Fox Theatre - although founder Arcelio Garcia is semi-retired.   Santana is still a world-famous brand name, but guitarist Carlos Santana now  leads a band that bears little relation to the incendiary outfit that burned out  of the Mission and can still be heard blasting "Oye Como Va" in jukeboxes  everywhere. 

To Anglos, this Latin rock wrinkle may seem li ke a momentary aberration on the pop scene long ago, but to Latinos it is a moment never to be forgotten. "Whatever movement Carlos started," his brother Jorge Santana said, "and whatever support I had given in regards to Malo and then my 10-piece band, and with the radio play that I had, it was like the Mayans. They were here and all the sudden they disappeared. Where the hell did they go? And look what they left  behind."

Sent by Dorinda Moreno 

In need of a model for his statue Gibbons was introduced by his then wife actress Dolores del Río to El Indio. Reluctant at first, Emilio Fernández was finally convinced. Fernández was forced into exile following his participation in the unsuccessful rebellion of Adolfo de la Huerta against Mexican President Álvaro Obregón Salido . . . .   He moved to Los Angeles.

Elaine Ayala, Features Writer
San Antonio Express-News
P.O. Box 2171
San Antonio, TX 78297
(210) 250-3402
eayala@express-news.net

BUSINESS

Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA) 
mourns the passing of Sara Gonzalez, 
Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President/CEO   ) 

 Atlanta, Georgia - February 19, 2008 -
Jose Marquez, President and CEO of Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association, issued the following statement regarding the recent death of Sara Gonzalez: “It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the surprising and disturbing news of the passing of Sara Gonzalez. One of the main reasons for LISTA to have developed a presence in Georgia was because of her vision to help empower Latinos in our community. Sara was relentless in her dedication to the Latinos community. As President and CEO of the Chamber she championed the growth of Georgia’s Hispanic business community. She was a special friend who always cared about the growth of our organization." "I will miss her." 

On behalf of LISTA, our National Board of Directors and Staff we share our deepest condolences with her family at this time, and want them to know that she has touched many and inspired us all.”

“Gracias Sara por darnos parte de tu vida, has tocado a muchos. que Dios te tenga en la gloria y te deje descansar.

She will be missed by all of us, may she Rest in Peace 

Sent by jam@a-lista.org  

Latino in Information Sciences and Technology Association, LISTA 
( www.a-lista.org) promotes the utilization of the technology sectors for the empowerment of the Latino community. We are an organization that is committed to bringing various elements of Technology under one central hub to facilitate our partners, members and the community with the leverage and education they need to succeed in a highly advanced technologically driven society. LISTA Mission is to educate, motivate and encourage the use of technology in the Latino community and empowering them to bridge the digital divide.

For information, please contact: 
Euralis Lopez, (347) 632-4542 
lopeze@a-lista.org 

ANTI-SPANISH LEGENDS 

Por Philip W. Powell

Military and Law Enforcement Heroes

Latinos/Latinas - Ultimate Sacrifice

Part II

 By Mercy Bautista-Olvera

Army Cpl. Gilberto A. Meza, 21 of Oxnard , Calif. , died Oct. 6, 2007 in Baghdad , Iraq , of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive hit near his unit. Meza, assigned to 3^rd squadron, 2^nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, in Vilseck , Germany . Enlisting in October 2005, relatives recall that he was enthusiastic about the military and looked forward to serving in Iraq, and even planned to re-enlist for another four years when his four-year term ended. Gilberto attended Oxnard High School , Channel Islands High School , Frontier High School and the Oxnard Union High school .  “We honor a son of this great nation, who offered his life for our liberty, our hopes and our dreams,” said Fidel Ramirez, a Santa Clara parish deacon.  

Marine Lance Cpl. Raul Mercado, 21 of Monrovia Calif. , died Jan. 7, 2006. Cpl. Mercado was killed when his vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations near Al Karmah, Iraq . Mercado was assigned to 2^nd Maintenance Battalion, 2^nd Marine Logistics Group I, and Marine Expeditionary Force Camp in Lejeune , North Carolina . Raul Mercado was born in U.S. but raised in Mexico . When the family returned to the U.S. , he attended Monrovia High School where he was involved in basketball and track and field. A member of the Spanish Honor society he graduated in 2004. While his first choice was West Point , he decided to join the Marines, He believed it was the toughest branch of the armed forces.   

Marine Cpl. Carlos Arellano, 22, of Rosemead , Calif. , died on Jan. 20, 2006, when a suicide bomber in a vehicle set off an explosion in Haglaniyah , Iraq . Cpl. Arellano had survived two previous tours of duty in Iraq , despite a wound from the second. Arellano was assigned to 3^rd Battalion, 1^st Marine Regiment, 1^st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Camp Pendleton . Arellano, was born in Mexico and raised in Rosemead , California , he attended Emerson Elementary and Garvey Intermediate Schools . After graduating from Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra , he joined the Marines in 2003. He saw combat during all three tours, earning a merit promotion during his second tour for killing an insurgent aiming a rocket-propelled grenade out of a hotel window. He hoped that his Marine experience would lead to a future job as a SWAT officer in the Los Angeles Police Department. He was to be discharged in June 2006 and had planned to attend college and study criminal justice. 

                                              
Marine Lance Cpl. Hugo R. Lopez-Lopez, 20, of La Habra , Calif. , died on Jan. 27, 2006 at a Texas military hospital, where his mother, Maria had maintained a vigil at his bedside ever since the young Marine was critically wounded by a homemade bomb in November 2005. Lopez attended Washington Middle School in La Habra , then La Habra High, where he played football on the school’s 2003 CIF championship team. He enlisted in the Marines after graduating in 2004. Hugo went straight from being a winning football player at La Habra High School to a decorated Marine. He earned the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Good Conduct Medal. On military leave, he celebrated his 20^th and last birthday at home with his family in La Habra , before receiving critical and serious injuries on Nov. 20, 2005.

Army Sgt. David L. Herrera, 26, of Oceanside , Calif. , was killed on Jan. 28, 2006 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Baghdad . Sgt. Herrera was assigned to the 2^nd Battalion, 506^th Infantry Regiment, 4^th Brigade Combat Team, 101^st Airborne Division, from Fort Campbell , Kentucky . Herrera attended North Terrace Elementary School on Camp Pendleton and Lincoln Middle School before Oceanside High School .

Army Master Sgt. Emigdio E. Elizarraras, 37 of Pico Rivera , Calif. , died on Feb 28, 2006. Sgt. Elizarrras served in the Army for 19 years, starting as an infantryman and eventually training for Special Forces and becoming a Special Forces Intelligence Sergeant. He was killed when a roadside bomb hit his Humvee while he was on patrol. At El Rancho High School, Elizarraras played varsity baseball. His former coach, Ben Meza recalls, he was "a great guy, who played four different positions on the team." Married with two daughters and one son; family members said he was "a loving husband, a devoted father, a caring son, and a selfless soldier."

USMC L/CPL Juana Navarro Arellano, 24, of Ceres, Calif., died on Apr. 8, 2006 from a gunshot wound to the head, while supporting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. She was assigned to the 9^th Engineer Support Battalion, from Okinawa , Japan . She traveled with convoys or by herself to refuel military vehicles or provide camps with fuel supplies. However, since she was a "bulk fuel specialist" she was transferred to Iraq in May 2005. Born in Michoacán , Mexico , she became a U.S. citizen at age 13, along with her twin sister. In 2000 she graduated from Johansen High School in Modesto , Calif. where she was active as a volunteer with special education students in academics and social skills. After high school, Juana joined Job Corps in San Francisco . Nevertheless, seeing her twin brothers L/CPL Raul Navarro and L/CPL Lorenzo Navarro join the Marines inspired her to act on her desire and join the military.

Marine Lance Cpl. Salvador Guerrero, 21, of Whittier , Calif. , died on June 9, 2006, when the Humvee he and 3 others were riding in, hit a land mine in Al Anbar province, Iraq . He was an ammunition man assigned to the 1^st Battalion, 7^th Marine Regiment, 1^st Marine Division, Marine Expeditionary Force in June 2005. After graduating from Frontier High School , he joined the Marine Corps. Not wanting to upset his mother, he led her to believe he was training in Japan , until Marines arrived at her Whittier home to notify her of her son’s death. While in the military, Guerrrero, was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Medal, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

   

Cpl. USMC Michael A. Estrella, 20, of Hemet , Calif. , died Jun. 14, 2006 during small arms fire attack while on foot patrol in Al Anbar province, Iraq . Michael Estrella was a 2003 graduate of Hemet High School , and a member of the Junior ROTC. Estrella’s ambition was to be a Marine and serve his country. After high school, he joined the Marines. Following his initial training, he served in Afghanistan from November 2004 to June 2005. In Iraq , he was a radio operator. He arrived in Iraq in March 2006 and was due to leave in the fall.

Army Sgt. Andres Contreras, 23, of Huntington Park , Calif. , died on Jul. 15, 2006 of injuries sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device during combat operations in Baghdad , Iraq . Contreras joined the 519^th Military Police Battalion from Fort Polk , Louisiana . He was a Military Policeman. He had hoped to work for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department when his deployment was over. 

 Special thanks to Alan Lessig, Director of Photography, for the website, “Military   Times, Honor the Fallen” (www.militarycity.com) for granting permission to reproduce photos for this article.

    So, you want to join the Marine Corps?

                            By Tony (The Marine) Santiago

                                  Tony (The Marine) Santiago  

So, you are about to graduate from high school and you feel real tough and you want to prove it to yourself and to the world by serving your country as a member of the United States Marine Corps. Well then, maybe you should read this.  

Hispanics  are amongst the best soldiers that our military have had the fortune of having. The blood of warriors run through our veins. In our veins we have the blood of the early noble native Americans such as the Aztecs, Incas, Tainos and Caribes that resided in this hemisphere long before the arrival of the “white” man. Then to that you add the blood of the early Spanish Conquistadors who arrived with Columbus and explored the “New World” and I tell you, we have a hell of a combination. The military has always been an important part of our Hispanic culture. Therefore, it should surprise no one that whenever our country is in need of manpower for its military institutions, Hispanics have always been more then willing to serve. Hispanics have served this country from the very beginning when the Spanish Crown allowed it’s subjects from Puerto Rico, Cuba and Mexico to fight the British in the American Revolution under the command of  General Bernardo de Gálvez (1746 – 1786), to the present-day conflict in Iraq.  

Hispanics in general are very patriotic and that is why there is a widespread support for military service within the Hispanic community. According to government statistics, Hispanics in the armed forces over-represent their percentage of the population. Hispanics comprise 18 percent of enlisted Marines today, up from 15 percent when the Iraq War began. It is in our blood to serve and one of the first choices among Hispanics is the Marine Corps. I don’t know if this is so because the Marines are an elite outfit or because  the Marine Corps has currently implemented aggressive recruitment programs directed towards Hispanics, since we are the nation's largest ethnic or minority race. Therefore, if you are among the many Hispanics, both male and female who are considering the Marine Corps as your military institution of choice, I feel that it is my duty to tell you things the way they really are before you make that decision. You must read this.  

There many things about the Corps that attract our youth. One of them is that the Marines have one of the best looking military uniforms (Dress Blues) in the world and another is the fact that you look really good in that uniform with all the shiny medals on your chest. Also, there is the  fact that you will belong to one of the greatest military organizations in the world whose battles and heroic actions are legendary . Yes, it is true that the Marines have served with distinction in every war in which the United States has been involved, however becoming a Marine is no piece of cake.  

I am not a recruiter, I served in the Marines and I served my country with pride. Therefore, I am going to tell you what to expect if you decide to join the Corps. When you go to the recruiter, it will be his or her job to present to you only the positives and not the negatives that go with serving. Not me, when I joined the Marines, I knew exactly what I was getting into. Some of my family members had been in the Marines before me and therefore, I was mentally and physically prepared before I even signed my enlistment papers. I knew that I was going to be sent to war (Vietnam War) and I also believed that I would die in combat. I felt very patriotic and I was willing to sacrifice my life for my country. That is one of the most important things that you should think about before you join. You should only join if you are willing to fight for your country and are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice if needed. Once you have set your mind towards this mentality then be prepared for the tough basic training.                                                     

Basic training or Boot Camp, is tough, very tough. You will arrive as an undisciplined child and come out as a tough disciplined adult. You are guaranteed only one meal and one hour of sleep per day. You will be exercised until your body is transformed into pure muscles. You will be drilled from the early hours of the morning until the late hours of the evening.  You and your comrades will become one in cadence. You will be taught how to arm and disarm various weapons in the daylight and in the darkness of night. You will learn how to use these weapons and you will become a killing machine. Not everybody can make it, not everybody can be a Marine. I kid you not, I saw many men cry for their mama’s and I also saw many that did not pass Boot Camp. However, those that are strong both mentally and physically will pass and once they do they will feel a pride unlike any other of belonging to a select group.  

True, as a Marine you will be able to travel to different countries and see new places and experience different cultures. But, it isn’t all pleasure and no work. You will be sent to other bases and you will continue to train. If you think the Marine Corps is free of racism, then think again. There are racist people in the Marines as there are everywhere else. Then again there people who are true to the Corps and who do not distinguish anyone by their race. Now, you must understand that the Marines are true to their lore, they are the first to fight and if you serve during the time of war such as now, you must be mentally prepared and expect to be deployed to a combat zone at anytime. Let me tell you, combat is nothing like what you see in the movies nor your video games. War is “Hell” as described by  General William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army during the Civil War. Expect to see the worst, people do die. You will see people die, some of whom you may have known, in the worst ways. You will see others who are wounded. You will have to kill or be killed. That is what happens in war and those are the sacrifices which we who join the armed forces must make in order that our country and its citizens will continue to enjoy the freedoms that they enjoy. As a Marine you will not question your country and its leaders motives for entering a war, you are there to “do” or “die“. You will never come out the same person and if you are not mentally strong, you may be scarred for life. That is the way it is.  

As I stated before, I served with no regrets and I am proud of it. Plus, I used my G.I. Bill to further my education. My advice to those who want to join the Marines, with the possibility of making it a career, is this: If you are in high school, do not join after your graduation. Go to “college” and get a degree. Join your campus ROTC program and after you get your degree then join. You will be commissioned a second lieutenant. Hispanics are underrepresented in the officer ranks of the Marine Corps and the Marine Corps, realizing its shortage of Hispanics in the officer ranks, has a program which sends young enlisted Marines to college while on active duty to obtain a degree and a commission. We need more Hispanic officers in our armed forces and this goes double for the Marines.  So, if you want to join the Marines, think about becoming an officer before you join.

Mimi,  I have an update in regard to the Medal of Honor request that has been made for Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta. You can pass it on, especially to our friend R. Ortega and if you like, you can add it at the end of my essay as a "note."

Note: On January 22, 2008, the Department of Defense has officially recommended that Marine Sergeant Rafael Peralta be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions Operation Phantom Fury in the city of Fallujah, Iraq. Now it is up to President Bush to sign the presidential approval. Now get this, according to the Pentagon the disparity of awarding medals of valor (including the Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver and Bronze Stars) has to do with the nature of combat in Iraq: less face to face fighting and fewer occasions for valor. Excuses, excuses.  Tony Santiago 

My Dear Friends,

On this site, http://vlex.us/vid/20020955 you can read how the U.S Army selected, trained and paid the first Army pilots. Mr Rider took his case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to collect about $381 dollars of Flight pays and he won. 

This reminds me of my own fight against our U.S. Air Force when I was station in Holland and my order were cancelled to Viet Nam for 30 days, after I had shipped my household goods and my car, the Air Force did not want to pay for an additional 30 days in a hotel for me and my family. The whole year that I was station at Tan Son Nut Saigon Viet Nam if fought and won. It was just the principle with me and to see that I could win. I have never lost and don't intent to lose now or ever when it come to fight for a principle.

I share this with you, because, there were many little air bases across our nation, where farm boys would just walk to them and enlist. Many times they were accepted for pilot training.  It is my hope that we can find Latinos and Latinas that served in this era for their recognition and to be put into our History books.

Thanks, Rafael Ojeda
Tacoma,WA