Hector Garcia Research Paper
Hector P. Garcia
Hector Garcia was born January 17, 1914 in Llera, Tamaulipas, Mexico. His father, a college professor, Jose Garcia, and his mother, a school teacher, Faustina Perez Garcia were threatened by the Mexican Revolution. In response of having seven children in the middle of a war for independence the family decided to flee. The Garcias legally settled in Mercedes, Texas. At first the family had to satisfy their daily needs by manual labor. Jose later joins his brothers in the dry goods business for their compensation. Throughout the children’s lives, it was instilled in them to always strive for a proper education. These teachings had a return in all of the children receiving a degree in medicine (Rozeff). From fighting Mexican American …show more content…
discrimination to fighting in the U.S Army, Hector’s life certainly impacted Texas in an enormous measure. Hector’s childhood ostensibly was a blue collar lifestyle. His parents, not having a influential amount of money, resorted to manual labor which has repeatedly been an excellent teacher of humility. Hector grew up knowing he needed to work for the luxuries in life unlike most children in Texas today. Having seven other siblings, it was obvious that Hector also didn’t receive affection from his parents perpetually. These factors molded Hector into the man he will soon become.
At the age of fifteen, Hector joined CMTC. CMTC is a precursor of high school ROTC. Advancing through his classes he eventually earned the rank equivalent to a second lieutenant in the United States Army infantry. In 1932, Hector graduated as valedictorian in his segregated high school in Mercedes, Texas. He pursued a college degree at Edinburg Junior College paid for by his father’s cashed in life insurance policy. Eventually transferring to the University of Texas at Austin, Hector graduated with honors in 1936 with a bachelor's degree and a zoology major. After graduating from the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston four years later; Hector took a two year residency training at St. Joseph’s Hospital at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska (Rozeff).
Throughout Hector’s upbringing he was taught to focus on school. Hector certainly obeyed his father’s instructions by becoming a valedictorian in a town that oppress Mexican Americans, and graduating with honors from Edinburg Junior College. Garcia’s discipline gained him a rank in the U.S. Army without enlisting. Hector was the very symbol of hard work and dedication in a time where it was rare for a Mexican American to graduate from high school.
After graduation, America was involved in WWII at the time. Hector enlisted into the U.S. Army heroically. Hector served at first as a infantry officer, a combat engineer officer, and finally as a Medical Corps officer and surgeon. After discharging at a final rank as major, he received a bronze star and six battle stars for serving in North Africa and Italy (Rozeff). After Hector’s service he founded a medical practitioner in Corpus Christi. Hector saw the struggling and impoverished veteran and migrants. Hector offered his services for little to no cost for the depleted veterans. Garcia was known by the veterans as the, “doctor of the barrios”. His noble gesture inspired a lifetime of social and moral reform towards Mexican Americans (Texas Originals).
Hector’s acts of bravery were widely noticed by the military.
Obviously it was appreciated after acquiring a total of six battle stars and a bronze star. No matter the color of his skin, his accomplishments were universally accepted. After going above and beyond in foreign lands, Hector finally returned home. Seeing his fellow Mexican American veterans struggling because of their government rejecting them, Hector decided to revise these problems. He helped these people when they needed it the most. “Judge James deAnda recalled accompanying the doctor to an abandoned railroad boxcar to treat a dying grandfather. ‘He took care of the man, and we would go in other homes that were just about as humble,’ deAnda said. ‘The people obviously had no means of paying or even getting to his office. He would see all these people and administer to them. They had just absolute faith in the …show more content…
man.’”(Cornyn).
On December 30th, 1948 Garcia invited veterans and local leaders to discuss the racism in Texas like the segregation of schools(Saavedra).
To further step towards ending segregation, Garcia organized the American G.I. Forum. This group was aimed towards Hispanic veterans’ civil rights (Taylor). This forum was first assembled in a elementary school classroom on March 26, 1948. This led to have chapters in forty cities. Within months the discrimination of Mexican American veteran who was gunned down by a Japanese sniper reached national attention. Felix Longoria, a private in the U.S. military, was refused the right to be buried in his hometown of Three Rivers, Texas. The funeral director refused to proceed with the service due to the color of his skin. Dr. Garcia caught word and appealed for redress of the situation. Sen. Johnson offered the widow for the man to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia with full military honors
(Rozeff).
Hector’s commitment to end the oppression of his people reached great lengths. Creating the G.I. forum was a giant step away from Latino racism. The small meeting in a elementary school classroom led to what the G.I. Forum is to this day; reaching forty different cities. Felix Longoria’s tragedy was seen around the world because of Hector. He exposed the racism in Texas in front of the whole world. Another step away from racism. Hector’s display of love towards a fallen brother was an example of how every American should treat the people of the world. The matter of a imperialism towards skin color is irrelevant.
As the G.I. Forum grew it was rendered many complications to mend. The G.I. Forum went on to repair areas such as farm labor, jury selection, desegregation of schools, hospitals, public swimming pools, poll tax reform, and much more (Rozeff). Garcia sought for the inclusion of the Mexican American people into modern day America. Hector organized the innumerable Mexican Americans to fight for their rights as an American citizen (Texas Originals).
As Hector shaped his organization, people of Latin decent decided to start fighting for their rights with this local leader. Joining the G.I. Forum and establishing their race as a force to be reckoned with. Hector continued to push his people to not bow down to the discrimination of the racist community. In the year 1984, Hector received the presidential medal of freedom, the highest award a president can give to a civilian, by the current president Ronald Reagan. Hector was the first Mexican American to receive this great honor (Texas Originals).
Garcia refused to back down from the challenges that were forced upon his culture. He continued to help the Mexican people out of their exclusion from mainstream America. Hector’s efforts were widely noticed. Even the president knew with that amount of compassion for a group of people that it couldn’t have gone unrewarded.
Without Hector P. Garcia, the world could still have such a strong hatred towards the Mexican culture. Hector showed us that no matter the color of the skin, a person was a person with a soul of their own. His caring for education went to great lengths. As Saavedra reported Hector saying, "Education is our freedom, and freedom is everybody’s business." Without Hector, Texas would never be the same.
Hector Garcia was born January 17, 1914 in Llera, Tamaulipas, Mexico. His father, a college professor, Jose Garcia, and his mother, a school teacher, Faustina Perez Garcia were threatened by the Mexican Revolution. In response of having seven children in the middle of a war for independence the family decided to flee. The Garcias legally settled in Mercedes, Texas. At first the family had to satisfy their daily needs by manual labor. Jose later joins his brothers in the dry goods business for their compensation. Throughout the children’s lives, it was instilled in them to always strive for a proper education. These teachings had a return in all of the children receiving a degree in medicine (Rozeff). From fighting Mexican American …show more content…
discrimination to fighting in the U.S Army, Hector’s life certainly impacted Texas in an enormous measure. Hector’s childhood ostensibly was a blue collar lifestyle. His parents, not having a influential amount of money, resorted to manual labor which has repeatedly been an excellent teacher of humility. Hector grew up knowing he needed to work for the luxuries in life unlike most children in Texas today. Having seven other siblings, it was obvious that Hector also didn’t receive affection from his parents perpetually. These factors molded Hector into the man he will soon become.
At the age of fifteen, Hector joined CMTC. CMTC is a precursor of high school ROTC. Advancing through his classes he eventually earned the rank equivalent to a second lieutenant in the United States Army infantry. In 1932, Hector graduated as valedictorian in his segregated high school in Mercedes, Texas. He pursued a college degree at Edinburg Junior College paid for by his father’s cashed in life insurance policy. Eventually transferring to the University of Texas at Austin, Hector graduated with honors in 1936 with a bachelor's degree and a zoology major. After graduating from the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston four years later; Hector took a two year residency training at St. Joseph’s Hospital at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska (Rozeff).
Throughout Hector’s upbringing he was taught to focus on school. Hector certainly obeyed his father’s instructions by becoming a valedictorian in a town that oppress Mexican Americans, and graduating with honors from Edinburg Junior College. Garcia’s discipline gained him a rank in the U.S. Army without enlisting. Hector was the very symbol of hard work and dedication in a time where it was rare for a Mexican American to graduate from high school.
After graduation, America was involved in WWII at the time. Hector enlisted into the U.S. Army heroically. Hector served at first as a infantry officer, a combat engineer officer, and finally as a Medical Corps officer and surgeon. After discharging at a final rank as major, he received a bronze star and six battle stars for serving in North Africa and Italy (Rozeff). After Hector’s service he founded a medical practitioner in Corpus Christi. Hector saw the struggling and impoverished veteran and migrants. Hector offered his services for little to no cost for the depleted veterans. Garcia was known by the veterans as the, “doctor of the barrios”. His noble gesture inspired a lifetime of social and moral reform towards Mexican Americans (Texas Originals).
Hector’s acts of bravery were widely noticed by the military.
Obviously it was appreciated after acquiring a total of six battle stars and a bronze star. No matter the color of his skin, his accomplishments were universally accepted. After going above and beyond in foreign lands, Hector finally returned home. Seeing his fellow Mexican American veterans struggling because of their government rejecting them, Hector decided to revise these problems. He helped these people when they needed it the most. “Judge James deAnda recalled accompanying the doctor to an abandoned railroad boxcar to treat a dying grandfather. ‘He took care of the man, and we would go in other homes that were just about as humble,’ deAnda said. ‘The people obviously had no means of paying or even getting to his office. He would see all these people and administer to them. They had just absolute faith in the …show more content…
man.’”(Cornyn).
On December 30th, 1948 Garcia invited veterans and local leaders to discuss the racism in Texas like the segregation of schools(Saavedra).
To further step towards ending segregation, Garcia organized the American G.I. Forum. This group was aimed towards Hispanic veterans’ civil rights (Taylor). This forum was first assembled in a elementary school classroom on March 26, 1948. This led to have chapters in forty cities. Within months the discrimination of Mexican American veteran who was gunned down by a Japanese sniper reached national attention. Felix Longoria, a private in the U.S. military, was refused the right to be buried in his hometown of Three Rivers, Texas. The funeral director refused to proceed with the service due to the color of his skin. Dr. Garcia caught word and appealed for redress of the situation. Sen. Johnson offered the widow for the man to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia with full military honors
(Rozeff).
Hector’s commitment to end the oppression of his people reached great lengths. Creating the G.I. forum was a giant step away from Latino racism. The small meeting in a elementary school classroom led to what the G.I. Forum is to this day; reaching forty different cities. Felix Longoria’s tragedy was seen around the world because of Hector. He exposed the racism in Texas in front of the whole world. Another step away from racism. Hector’s display of love towards a fallen brother was an example of how every American should treat the people of the world. The matter of a imperialism towards skin color is irrelevant.
As the G.I. Forum grew it was rendered many complications to mend. The G.I. Forum went on to repair areas such as farm labor, jury selection, desegregation of schools, hospitals, public swimming pools, poll tax reform, and much more (Rozeff). Garcia sought for the inclusion of the Mexican American people into modern day America. Hector organized the innumerable Mexican Americans to fight for their rights as an American citizen (Texas Originals).
As Hector shaped his organization, people of Latin decent decided to start fighting for their rights with this local leader. Joining the G.I. Forum and establishing their race as a force to be reckoned with. Hector continued to push his people to not bow down to the discrimination of the racist community. In the year 1984, Hector received the presidential medal of freedom, the highest award a president can give to a civilian, by the current president Ronald Reagan. Hector was the first Mexican American to receive this great honor (Texas Originals).
Garcia refused to back down from the challenges that were forced upon his culture. He continued to help the Mexican people out of their exclusion from mainstream America. Hector’s efforts were widely noticed. Even the president knew with that amount of compassion for a group of people that it couldn’t have gone unrewarded.
Without Hector P. Garcia, the world could still have such a strong hatred towards the Mexican culture. Hector showed us that no matter the color of the skin, a person was a person with a soul of their own. His caring for education went to great lengths. As Saavedra reported Hector saying, "Education is our freedom, and freedom is everybody’s business." Without Hector, Texas would never be the same.