Proud to be here, Legal or Not

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Today being July 4th, patriotism is on my mind.

In 1944, when my Dad was drafted in the Army, he didn't think about not being documented. He wanted to serve like all the other young men who were going. He tells me that there was a tremendous amount of criticism thrown at what he calls the 4-F's - guys who did not serve because of health reasons.

He was the oldest of 6 kids - had to quit school 2 times so he could work to support the family. It was hard for his Mom when he left. She probably had to take in more ironing to make sure she had enough money for groceries.

He went to Camp Roberts in California, then crossed the Pacific in a boat to the Philipines. Carrying around a bazooka he found a way to survive when many of the guys around him died or were seriously injured. He did have one injury - it was his hearing - because of a nearby shell - his eardrums burst, but he didn't want to worry his Mom and did not report it.

After what he calls "the liberation of Luzon" - he eventually came home. He moved to a town where Mexicans were treated very badly and people of color could not eat at the counter of the local drug store. Through his friends and acquaintances he was able to change this - along with being the first person of color to move to the white side of town. He did a lot of things like this - a few generations later, many families are living different lives because of his advocacy.

His drive to make a difference stayed with me as I realized I could write. I am not the type to confront the owner of the drug store - or get the city to integrate the swimming pool -- but putting words together is easy for me -- maybe through this blog I can push things along a little bit.

He is 85 now. He is an all American guy - made sure his children visited the Alamo. He wanted to cry when he attended the first game of the Yankee season in New York last year. He also says he is a real Mexicano - yesterday he called me, all excited because his only grandson, who is now living in Argentina, is speaking fluent Spanish.

He is proud that he was born in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico - he says in it's day the city was called the "Athens of the West." Yet he always reminds me of how he became an American citizen on a boat going towards the Pacific Theater.

Now that he repeats himself a lot, he is always telling me how he did not have papers when he entered the United States at age 6 months*... and remained in undocumented status until he was in the U.S. Army.


Happy 4th of July Don Pepe -




*This occurred because his mother lost her American citizenship when she married a Mexican citizen. But the way it happened doesn't matter. To many people he was just illegal - and illegal is illegal.