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Mexican Americans Defending America

HISTORY

Mexican Americans Defending America

By Jennifer Vo and John P. Schmal

 

Recently I found myself involved in an interesting conversation about Ken Burn's upcoming 14-hour documentary on World War II, "The War." While talking to an acquaintance about the topic, I mentioned my disappointment that Mr. Burns had not taken the time to pay tribute to the Latino contribution in World War II, suggesting that Mr. Burns should have read "Hispanic Military Heroes" by Virgil Hernandez. Or better yet, if he had read the Department of Defense's 1990 publication, "Hispanics in America's Defense," he would have learned about the numerous contributions of America's Latino citizens to the U.S. through many wars.

To my surprise, the gentleman I was talking to said, "What's the big deal? What did the Latinos do during World War II?" My new friend was talking to the wrong person. My name is Jennifer Vo and I am Mexican American and two of my family members were killed in action during World War II. This discussion and similar discussions taking place across the country had made me realize that many Americans across this nation see Latinos - and Mexican Americans in particular - as relative newcomers to this country and as lacking the patriotism of other American ethnic groups.

One need only look at my family to know that this is not true. My family's service on American soil started in 1781 and has continued to the present day. I am an eleventh-generation Californian, and several years ago, John Schmal and I embarked on a research expedition to explore my family's military service to this country. We came across one amazing discovery after another, all of them essentially confirming the oral tradition handed down from one generation to another.

From the very start, my family was involved in the military service. Four of the soldiers taking part in the Expedition of 1781 to establish the Pueblo of Los Angeles in California were my ancestors, including my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Juan Matias Olivas, an Indian from the city of Rosario in the present-day Mexican state of Sinaloa.

From my earliest memories, my family has always expressed its pride in its military tradition of protecting American soil. When my mother, Sarah Melendez Basulto Evans, was just a teenager, she went to her grandfather's funeral in Oxnard, California. After the church service, the family drove to the Santa Clara Cemetery in Oxnard for the burial service. Recounting that day four decades ago, Mom told me, "Once the graveside service had ended, my Uncle Simon [Melendez] took me for a long walk, pointing out the various tombstones for many of our ancestors. I was amazed that he could recount so many stories and names from our family history."

Sarah also explained to me that "because Uncle Simon was a Korean War veteran and had lost an uncle and a cousin in World War II, our family took great pride in its long military tradition extending back to our earliest California ancestor, Juan Matias Olivas." One generation after another had joined the military to defend the only land that we could call home. And, although Mexican Americans in California have been treated as newcomers and strangers in our own homeland, our resolve to defend this state and this country has never wavered.

From the first moment Juan Matias Olivas entered California -- and for the better part of eleven generations -- my family has played a role in the defense of California and since 1848, the United States. And, in some cases, members of my family had to make the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard the security of our country. Over a period of two-and-a-quarter centuries, the flags, the causes, and the surnames have changed, but my family's legacy of military service to California has endured.

My most distant ancestor, Juan Matias Olivas, was born two and a half centuries ago near Rosario in what is today known as the state of Sinaloa (in the Republic of Mexico). On August 6, 1780, Juan Matias enlisted for ten years as a soldado de cuera (leather-jacket soldier) attached to the Military District of Monterrey of northern Mexico. Joining Spain's frontier army offered Juan and his family an opportunity that would not have been available to Indians who lived in the Rosario area. If he had stayed in Rosario, Juan Matias Olivas would have been destined to a life as a poor and lowly Indian laborer, subject to the whims of his hacienda jefe and to a society that classified him within the lower rungs of a racist caste system.

But, as a soldier serving in the Spanish military, Juan Matias Olivas earned new privileges. In 1781, Juan Matias and his small family took part in the expedition that would establish the small pueblo of Los Angeles. After the founding of the Santa Barbara Presidio in 1782, Juan Matias Olivas was stationed with his family at the presidio until his retirement in 1798 at the age of forty years.

Juan Matias Olivas' son, Jose Pablo Olivas, witnessed his father's eighteen-year service in the military and stepped into his shoes as a soldier around the same time that his father retired. Many years later, Jose Pablo's son, Jose Delores Olivas, would also follow in the footsteps of his father as a soldier, but his allegiance would be to Mexico, not Spain. During this time, the Mexican people had revolted against Spain's rule, and after twelve years, independence was achieved. California would thus become part of Mexico.

Three generations of Olivas men would serve as soldiers at the Santa Barbara Presidio and, like his father and grandfather before him, Jose Dolores married and raised a family. Between 1830 and 1850, Dolores and his wife became the parents of twelve children, including my great-great-great-great-grandmother, Maria Antonia Olivas (who was born in 1834). During this twenty-year period, Dolores retired, and California became a part of the United States, as a result of the Mexican-American War, which ended on January 13, 1847 with the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga. A year later, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed on February 2, 1848, ending all hostilities between the two nations and granting American citizenship to my Olivas ancestors. The tightly-knit Olivas clan - composed of five families - continued to live in the Santa Barbara area.

The American Civil War (1861-1865) divided the American people into two camps and resulted in more casualties than any other war in American history. Many of the hostilities in this war took place in the eastern half of North America, especially in the Southern states. For the most part, California - which was a Union state - seemed removed from most of the battlefields and action that was taking place. However, as early as 1862, California State Senator Romualdo Pacheco, having observed his fellow native Californians in action, came to recognize them as skilled horsemen who could easily be transformed into units of exceptional cavalrymen. Pacheco was anxious to prove that Californians could prove their patriotism even though many of them were born in the state when it was under Mexican rule. As a Union loyalist, Pacheco proposed the formation of a regiment of "native cavalry," which would stand ready to protect the Union's western boundaries.

As the war between the states raged in 1862, Brigadier-General Wright of the Union Army followed up Pacheco's idea and recommended utilizing the "extraordinary horsemanship" that came so naturally to native Californians. In December, he wrote to the War Department in Washington, requesting "authority to raise four companies of native cavalry." It was believed that these skilled horsemen would be able to serve in both California and Arizona and guard those regions from Confederate incursions. On January 20, 1863, the War Department authorized General Wright to proceed with this task. In the course of the next year-and-a-half, the U.S. Government organized four companies of Mexican-American Californians into the First California Native Cavalry Battalion [Source: Richard H. Orton, "Records of California Men in the War of the Rebellion" (Sacramento: State of California, 1890), pp. 304-306; Sacramento Union, January 28, 1863.]

At this time, the family of my ancestor, Maria Antonia Olivas, lived in the Santa Barbara area. When recruitment began, two of Maria Antonia's brothers, Jose Victoriano Olivas and Felipe Olivas, joined Company C of the First Battalion of the California Native Cavalry. In addition, two of their first cousins, Antonio and Pablo Olivas, also joined Company C, while another cousin Blas Olivas joined Company D. By the end of July 1864, all five Olivas cousins were in uniform and ready for action. However, for the first half-year of their service, they were put to work on a massive irrigation project, marched in parades and patrolled the California waterfront in the Los Angeles area.

But, in 1865, the Native Cavalry was called upon to perform more important tasks and spent August of 1865 to early 1866 on the Arizona frontier in a series of Indian campaigns. Jose Pablo Olivas, unfortunately, had died of consumption on December 26, 1864, but my two uncles and their two Olivas cousins were mustered out on April 2, 1866 and returned to civilian life as proud veterans.

[Note: More detailed information on the First Native Battalion can be accessed at: http://www.militarymuseum.org/1stNatCavCV.html]

Maria Antonia Olivas and her siblings married and raised their families in the Ventura and Oxnard areas. Several generations came and went, while America enjoyed a period of significant peace, interrupted only by the Spanish-American War of 1898 and World War I (1917-1918).

Maria Antonia's great-granddaughter, Isabel Ortega, grew up with her siblings in Saticoy and endured the Great Depression. This period was a difficult time for my family as it was for most American families. But the beginning of World War II was an ominous event for all Americans. For three years, the United States had avoided involvement in this war, which pitted the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) against a multitude of other nations, including Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China.

On December 7, 1941, everything changed. The surprise attack on the American naval fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii would bring America into this struggle against tyranny. And when Uncle Sam called for recruits, his call was answered. By the end of the war in September 1945, sixteen million men and women had worn the uniform of America's armed forces. It is believed that as many as 750,000 of these soldiers may have been Latinos, consisting of Mexican-Americans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans and persons of other national origins.

The State of California - the traditional home to a significant number of Mexican Americans - played an important role in World War II. Eighteen California National Guard Divisions were sent overseas, and thousands of men enlisted or were drafted. According to the United States War Department, California - containing 5.15% of the population of the United States - contributed 5.53% of the total number who entered the Army. Of these men and women from California who went to war, 3.09% failed to return home, representing 5.54% of the American casualties

In 1942, my great-uncle Luciano P. Ortega - the brother of my great-grandmother Isabel Ortega- joined the armed forces. Luciano was attached to the 34th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division, which would fight on the front lines in the war against Japan in several crucial campaigns. The 24th Infantry Division was among the first to see combat in World War II and among the last to stop fighting. After a period of intensive training, the Division took part in Operation Reckless (the landings at Hollandia in Netherlands New Guinea) in early 1944. Later in the year, Uncle Luciano's unit would take part in the campaign to liberate the Japanese from Leyte in the Philippine Islands.

On October 20, 1944, Uncle Luciano and the 24th Division landed on Red Beach and Leyte and advanced steadily to Breakneck Ridge by November 12, 1944. The Japanese resistance was tremendous and, on November 19, Uncle Luciano was killed in action. He was buried in the Manila American Cemetery in the capital city. My great-great-grandmother, Theodora Tapia Ortega, never reconciled herself to her son's death and refused to accept it. Instead, she continued to believe that he was missing in action and would someday return home to Saticoy.

The eighth generation of my family saw four men go to war, one into action in World War II and three into the Korean War. Late in World War II, Chello O. Ortega, the nephew of Luciano Ortega, went to war. He was the second Ortega to go to the Army from Saticoy and - like his uncle - was sent to the Pacific Theater. Cousin Chello belonged to the 383rd Infantry, which was attached to the famous 96th Infantry, better known as the Deadeyes.

The campaign to wrest control of Okinawa from the Japanese lasted from April 1 to June 14, 1945. It was a long and bloody campaign. My cousin Chello took part in the 383rd Infantry's attack on Conical Hill and helped to defeat a Japanese counterattack on May 13th. However, Chello was killed in action the following day and a day later, on May 15th, the Deadeyes secured Conical Hill.

According to the military report, my Cousin's body was not identified until June 19th, five weeks later, and not until July did my family and the Saticoy community find out that Chello had been killed in action. Two months later, Japan would surrender and peace would finally come to America after three years and nine months of war.

As World War II drew to an end, the three Melendez brothers - sons of Refugio Melendez and Isabel Ortega and brothers to my grandmother Dora - were teenagers. Raymond (Raymundo) Ortega Melendez had been born in 1929 and yearned to join the military. In 1945, at the age of 17 - with his parents' permission - Ray entered the American armed forces. This would mark the beginning of a long military career, with would take him through the Korean and Vietnam Wars before his retirement in 1969.

The Korean War began in 1950, only five years after the end of World War II. The participation of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans in the Korean War was so significant that the Department of Defense paid tribute to their contribution, explaining that "they served with distinction in all of the services. Many Mexican Americans from barrios in Los Angeles, San Antonio, Laredo, Phoenix, and Chicago saw fierce action in Korea. Fighting in almost every combat unit in Korea, they distinguished themselves through courage and bravery as they had in previous wars."

By the end of the Korean War, all three of my grandmother's brothers, Raymond, Donald (Danny) and Simon would join the United States Army. During this war, Uncle Ray served as an airborne paratrooper for many years. But my Uncle Simon Melendez's experiences in the Korean War are the stuff that legends are made of.

Born on October 28, 1930, Simon Ortega Melendez was raised in Saticoy and attended Ventura Junior High School and Ventura City College. When the Korean War started, Simon joined the 2nd Division of the U.S. Army and became a machine gunner. It would be Uncle Simon's destiny to take part in two of the bloodiest battles of the Korean War. The "Battle of Bloody Ridge" began in August 1951 and continued up until September 12, 1951. On August 27, Simon was hit in the neck and legs by mortar shrapnel and in the back by grenade fragments. At the same time, he was separated from his platoon. For seven days, he was behind enemy lines and disoriented by torrential rains that made his weapon inoperable.

The rain did not stop until the sixth day, and on the seventh day he was able to make his way into the area of the 9th U.S. Regiment. When asked how he managed to make his way through enemy lines for seven days, 21-year-old Simon explained that "my extreme faith in God brought me through." Soon after this, Uncle Simon was able to have a three-day reunion with his brother Ray near the front lines. Raymond, who had already been in the service for six years, was a paratrooper and had been stationed about a 100 miles from Simon's position. Soon after, Simon was once again in the thick of the fighting when his unit took part in the "Battle of Heartbreak Ridge," which lasted from September 13 to October 22, 1951.

The Battles of Bloody Ridge and Heartbreak Ridge were the two bloodiest battles of the Korean War. By the time he left the service, Simon had been awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. He also founded the Mexican-American Korean War Veterans of Ventura County and became a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. Simon Melendez, the proud Korean War veteran, died at the age of 71 on June 15, 2002, surrounded by a family that adored him. Even to this day, Uncle Simon's memory remains strong with me and my family, in large part because he had a larger than life personality that endeared him to everyone.

Uncle Donald Ortega Melendez, who was born in 1936, entered the service in 1954 at the tail end of the Korean War. Like his brother Raymond, he initially joined the paratroopers. During his first stint overseas, Donald was assigned to the 9th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry division. He did three separate hitches overseas and was on service during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Uncle Donald spent 25 years in the military and achieved the rank of First Sergeant before he retired in 1979.

Uncle Ray, also an airborne paratrooper, served all around the world at one time or another and achieved the rank of Command Sergeant Major by the time he retired in 1969. Like Donald, Uncle Ray was a career military person and does not feel that he is at liberty to discuss his military service in great detail. Uncle Simon - after his Korean War service - had been offered a promotion too, but he decided that he was ready for civilian life.

Even since the Korean War, many members of my family have served in the American military. Luciano Ortega's daughter, Geraldine, joined the military for a long period of time. Donald's son, Daniel Melendez, followed in his father's step and served as a paratrooper from 1970 to 1982. Uncle Simon had two sons who spent a number of years in the military. When he was twenty years old, my mother's brother, Eusebio Javier Melendez Basulto followed in our family's military tradition by enlisting in the U.S. Army. He served in Military Intelligence with MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) Unit 406 ASA, where he achieved the rank of Specialist, Fourth Class. Uncle Eusebio's military career lasted from 1973 to 1985, a total of 12 years, after which he became a chemist in the civilian world. And, today, my younger sister is making plans to join the military, carrying on the tradition for yet another generation.

As Mexican-American citizens of California, my family has carried on a proud tradition of military service. When our nation has been in need, my ancestors - from the earliest days in California - answered the call with a sense of pride and obligation. This sense of duty is a deeply held tradition to all Mexican-Americans.

For me, this represents a strange irony. As a teenager growing up in the San Fernando Valley, many of my friends thought that I was Italian American. Although I have inherited my dark eyes and thick dark hair from my Mexican ancestors, I am also of German and Anglo-American descent through my father's side of the family. For this reason, it is not readily evident to some people that I am Mexican-American. As a result, I have - on occasion - heard friends and acquaintances express less than flattering opinions about Mexican immigrants or Mexican Americans. Such comments and criticisms - although they were undoubtedly based on ignorance or fear - hurt me and were an affront to my family's pride and dignity.

When one friend in high school found out that I was Mexican American, she actually ended our friendship, an act that puzzles me to this day. For all those people who expressed these hurtful opinions, I can only say that I hope that they are reading this story. I hope that these individuals are aware that my family has been fighting (and dying) for their freedom since the Civil War.

My maternal grandfather, Eusebio Basulto, was born in the Mexican state of Jalisco and I am very proud of my Jalisco roots. My direct paternal ancestors were German-Americans who fought for the United States against Germany in two world wars. And my great-grandfather, Refugio Melendez, came from Guanajuato. I am proud of these aspects of my heritage, but nothing is as meaningful to me as the proud military tradition that my family has inherited over many generations, a tradition of defending our native soil (California).

John and I paid tribute to my family's military tradition in a publication, entitled "A Mexican-American Family of California: In the Service of Three Flags" (Heritage Books, 2003), which is currently out-of-print, but will be back in circulation in about a month.

John and I believe that Ken Burn's documentary may very well be a moving and interesting documentary, but as far as we are concerned, one element is missing. A tribute to the many ethnic groups that participated in World War II (including Mexican Americans) would have recognized the great team effort that saved the world from fascism.

We also think that Mr. Burns should read the story about "Hero Street, USA" (Silvis, Illinois), a small Mexican-American community which has sent more than 110 men and women into the military. Fifty-seven men from Hero Street joined the military during World War II and Korea, and eight of these men - William Sandoval, Johnny Munos, Joseph Sandoval, Peter Masias, Tony Pompa, Joseph Gomez (pictured), Claro Soliz and Frank Sandoval - lost their lives in the two wars. All eight of these men were Mexican Americans. For more information, please go to this website: http://www.herostreetusa.org/HeroStMain.htm

In conclusion, we believe that Army Chaplain (Captain) Carlos C. Huerta of the First Battalion, 79th Field Artillery said it best: "Hispanics have always met the challenge of serving the nation with great fervor. In every war, in every battle, on every battlefield, Hispanics have put their lives on the line to protect freedom."
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Copyright 2007 by Jennifer Vo and John P. Schmal. All rights under applicable law are hereby reserved.

Jennifer Vo currently works as a library aide for the Los Angeles Unified School District. She also operates her own online editorial business, EditForYou.com, which serves the community's communication  needs by providing high quality, reliable editorial and proofreading services.

Jennifer Vo and John Schmal coauthored “A Mexican-American Family of California: In the Service of Three Flags,” about a founding family of Los Angeles and its military service through two centuries (Heritage Books). This book was sold out but is at the printer and should be available in about a month. The Heritage website can be accessed at: http://heritagebooks.com/ 

Contact John P. Schmal at: JohnnyPJ@aol.com

 

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John Schmal was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.  He attended Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles and St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, where he studied Geography, History and Earth Sciences and received two BA degrees. 

Mr. Schmal has been a life-long history buff and is also a skilled genealogist. His genealogical specialties including tracing lineages in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Southwestern U.S.A.  He is the coauthor of "Mexican-American Genealogical Research: Following the Paper Trail to Mexico" (Heritage Books, 2002).  He has also coauthored six other books on Mexican-American themes, all of them published by Heritage Books in Maryland. He is an Associate Editor of www.somosprimos.com and a board member of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research (SHHAR). Presently, in addition to writing weekly columns for HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com),  he is writing a book about the ports of entry along the Mexican-US border. 

Mr. Schmal has a passionate love of Mexican history and is intrigued by the linguistic and cultural diversity of its indigenous peoples. For the last few years, he has been writing short histories of each state, which are being compiled at the following link:

http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/states.html

Around April, John Schmal will publish "The Journey to Latino Political Representation," about the struggle for Hispanic representation in California, Texas and the U.S. Congress.  The preface to this book was written by his friend, Edward Telles, a professor at UCLA and the author of an award-winning book about race in Brazil and who is preparing to publish a book about Mexican-American assimilation.

Contact at: JohnnyPJ@aol.com