Wall of Memory: Vietnam soldier honored by family with memorial wall

McALLEN — Julia Marroquin finally found something that was worth her son's death benefits.

Devastated after her eldest child, Pedro Marroquin Jr., was killed in Vietnam, Marroquin was unable to do anything with the money the U.S. government sent her.

His family never even picked up the medals from his service.

But 42 years after Pedro Marroquin Jr. was killed while on patrol, Julia Marroquin and her family unveiled a wall honoring his service at the Veterans War Memorial of Texas.

The family paid for the memorial from the benefits they received from the military, said Art Marroquin, who was 8 when his brother died. And they got Pedro Marroquin Jr.'s medals, too, during a Memorial Day presentation by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

"I wasn't really expecting it after all these years," said Art Marroquin, whose brother was born in South Texas but grew up in Chicago with his siblings. "There's a lot of stirred up memories."

A few hundred people gathered Monday despite scorching temperatures as three walls were dedicated at the memorial on 29th Street and Galveston Avenue.

In addition to the wall honoring Pedro Marroquin Jr., walls were dedicated to Mercedes soldiers and to Medal of Honor recipient William George Harrell, who fought off attacks from Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima that cost him both hands.

Cuellar, who presented the Bronze Star and six other medals to Pedro Marroquin's family, said the day belonged to veterans like Marroquin who gave their life in service.

Art Marroquin said his world changed when he came home from school after March 19, 1967, and saw the military officers at his house to inform his family about the death of his brother, an A-student who was president of the honor society and senior class prom king.

When Julia Marroquin saw an opportunity to honor her son and other veterans after she moved to Mission, she took it, Art Marroquin said. The result - a granite wall that displays a photograph of her son and lists his military honors and will soon include the names of other veterans killed in the Vietnam war - was a fitting tribute to his and other's service.

Before they pulled the cloth covering the wall honoring Pedro Marroquin Jr., Julia Marroquin looked on while her husband, Pedro Marroquin Sr., clutched their son's medals.

"It's still hard," she said, tears welling in her eyes.

Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.