Giving thanks to our veterans is a personal matter
*Our friend and Taquista Mercedes Olivera writes a heartfelt tribute to veterans, and one veteran in specific. We thank Samuel as well. VL
By Mercedes Olivera, The Dallas Morning News
Samuel was 16 when he enlisted in the Navy.
He was in a hurry to get to the front lines, so he lied about his age because he was desperate to serve his country and see the world.
World War II had been raging for two years, ever since Hitler had invaded Poland in 1939. Several of his friends and cousins had enlisted, and Samuel was eager to sign up, too.
He grew up in Dallas’ Little Mexico in a family of 12 siblings, at a time when prejudice against Mexican-Americans was high. Serving in combat was a badge of honor for many Latinos eager to prove their patriotism — to show that they were just as American as everyone else.
[pullquote]He’s been invited several times to Washington, D.C., to be part of a national tribute on Veterans Day. He declines each time.[/pullquote]And they would put their lives on the line to prove it.
He wasn’t unlike the generations of Latinos who have served in every U.S. conflict, from the American Revolution through Afghanistan.
In 2011, Latinos were enlisting at about the same rate as their percentage of the population — 16.9 percent.
Click HERE to read the full story.
Mercedes Olivera is a veteran Dallas Morning News columnist. She’s a former Fulbright Scholar who studied at the University of Dallas, New York University and Universidad de las Americas-Puebla, Mexico.
[Photo courtesy of Navyseals.com]