Valley veterans invited to share war experiences
BROWNSVILLE -- To give Rio Grande Valley veterans their place in America’s history, several organizations are hosting an event Saturday where they will record stories for the Library of Congress.
Volunteers with the Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans Project will record the oral histories of veterans from World War II through the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts as they share their personal histories and first-hand accounts of their military experience.
Valley veterans are invited to participate in interviews from 9 to 11 a.m. at Roerig, Oliveira and Fisher law offices, 855 W. Price Road.
"You have such a large number of Hispanic veterans overall that have served in our armed forces. We want to hear from them. We want to hear their stories," Noemi Garcia, one of the directors of the Cameron County Bar Association, said. "We can have our children hear their stories directly from them. Whether it’s video recording or audio recording, it’s more than just reading it from a book."
National effort
Garcia’s group and the Texas Court Reporters Association are joining with the State Bar of Texas to host the national project in Brownsville. The collection of interviews will become part of the Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress in Washington. Across the nation other groups also are working to collect interviews for the project, which was created in 2000 through federal legislation.
"Hearing the war stories and these past events from these veterans, it really puts into perspective as to how grateful we should be to them for everything that they have done," Garcia said. "That’s one thing as a community we need to realize."
Garcia said 10 court reporters from Dallas are flying to Brownsville to help document the veterans’ interviews. She said she thought the stories of area veterans will help others understand what they face in trying to get their benefits and why an area veterans’ hospital is important to them.
Advocate
Ruben Cantu is a veteran who is involved with several advocate groups for veterans in the Valley. He said he flew to help during the Iranian hostage crisis, but he never landed because of the helicopters that crashed there in 1980.
Cantu’s stories are of sacrifice and service, but he said not all veterans are willing to share their own stories because they are deeply emotional or they are angry about issues involving their benefits.
Today, Cantu said, he acts as a voice for some of the more than 100,000 veterans in the Valley who feel that they are an ignored group because a complete veterans’ hospital has not been built in the region. He said area veterans have lobbied Washington for a hospital, but it still hasn’t happened after several years despite talks with senators and representatives to the House.
"What gets them really now is they’re being denied," he said of his fellow veterans.
When Cantu’s father was shot in the World War II battle at Normandy, he underwent an operation in France in which horse veins were used during the procedure, Cantu said.
Family of vets
The sacrifice of his father, who survived the procedure to live into his 60s, would later become his own when Cantu began his own military career. Four of his brothers enlisted in the military to serve in Vietnam at the same time and a total of seven of his siblings have served, he said.
"I love my veterans. I talk to my vets everyday," he said. "Only vets understand vets. I’m a voice for them. I have guys with no arms, no legs, with half their face blown off, with memories they’re going to have forever."
Raul Leal is post commander of the American Legion John Hanson Post 43, which has some 200 members, he said. Leal said he served in the Navy in the Korean War. Over the years, like Cantu, he has worked hard to get veterans the recognition he believes they deserve with several projects in the city.
Benefits
He also said veterans’ benefits are an important issue.
The history project on Saturday is another way to draw attention to veterans and their needs, he said.
"To me personally, I think it’s a great idea because it gives recognition to veterans that fought all over the world for the freedoms that we enjoy," Leal said. "That’s got to be something that is well-documented."
For more information contact Lupita Salazar at (956) 266-0622 or Noemi Garcia at 1-866-536-2889 or noemi@ngarcialaw.com.
