Bentsen's legend spread beyond the Valley

Jared Taylor

His family name adorns a road, a school, a federal court building and a state park in the Rio Grande Valley. But Lloyd Bentsen Jr.'s legacy as a legend stretches far beyond his roots. Born in Mission in 1921, Bentsen was the grandson of one of the... Full story

Weslaco High grad made name for himself on stage, screen

Amy Nichol Smith

Remembered as one of Gotham City's finest, Weslaco High School grad Pat Hingle played many more roles than that of Commissioner James Gordon in the first four Batman movies. Before Hingle racked up more than 50 years of performing on stage, TV and... Full story

VALLEY LEGENDS: Nation still remembers Block and flag raising

Mike Gonzalez

WESLACO — Photographer Joe Rosenthal captured one of the most iconic images of U.S. military history after bloody fighting between U.S. Marines and the Japanese for control over the tiny Pacific island of Iwo Jima in 1945. As five Marines and... Full story

Valley Legends series

With The Monitor's 100th anniversary celebration scheduled for Dec. 11, 2009, we decided to commemorate our centennial in various ways throughout the year. One of those was listing some of the most prominent names ever to call the Rio Grande Valley... Full story

The Last Teardrop Falls

San Benito native grew up in poverty to become music icon

Bruce Lee Smith

Perhaps one of the most well-known figures in all of music and Hollywood got his start in deep South Texas. Baldemar Huerta, better known as Freddy Fender, was born in one of the poorest neighborhoods of San Benito. But Fender went on to top the... Full story

'Valley Legends' Archives