-
Leave no one behind
- By Raoul
Lowery Contreras
Damned illiterate un-assimilated Mexican
immigrants – Keep them out of the
United States…Build a fence…hunt them
down…deport them…Damned Mexicans…Legal? doesn’t matter…Don’t let them
into America!
Damned illiterate high school drop-out Mexicans!
We hear and see these words every day. The words and their intent are
embedded into proposed state laws like
Arizona’s SB 1070. Luckily, the federal courts
that have enjoined such laws now have another federal employee to point
to in their efforts to squelch such emotions and obvious bigotry.
His name is Staff Sergeant Juan J. Rodriguez-Chavez, United States
Marine Corps; he was born in Acuna,
Mexico, he graduated from high school in
Ft. Stockton, Texas.
He was awarded the Navy Cross, the second highest military award
in the USA
for his actions on 8 September, 2009 in far away Afghanistan.
Here is the actual citation of the award:
"Navy Cross -- Awarded for actions during the
Global War on Terror
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in
presenting the Navy Cross to Staff Sergeant Juan J. Rodriguez-Chavez,
United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism in action against
the enemy as a member of Marine Embedded Training Team 2-8, Regional
Corps Advisory Command 3-7, in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, on 8
September 2009 in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Assigned to the
security element while other members of his team led two platoons of
Afghan National Security Forces into Ganjgal Village
for a pre-dawn meeting with village elders. Staff Sergeant
Rodriguez-Chavez heard over the radio that the dismounted patrol was
ambushed by roughly fifty enemy fighters in fortified positions. With
four members of his team in immediate danger of being surrounded, he
drove a gun-truck, with one other Marine as his gunner, forward into the
kill zone of a well prepared ambush. With only the machine gun fires of
his gunner to suppress the enemy, he ignored heavy enemy fires and drove
the vehicle into the kill zone three times to cover the withdrawal of
the combined force and evacuate two dozen members of the Afghan National
Security Forces. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, he
made a fourth trip into the deepest point of the kill zone in another
gun-truck with three other U.S. personnel to recover the bodies
of the fallen team members. He positioned his vehicle to shield the U.S. members
from the intense enemy fire as they dismounted to recover their bodies.
By his decisive actions, bold initiative, and selfless dedication to
duty, Staff Sergeant Rodriguez-Chavez reflected great credit upon
himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Action Date: September 8, 2009, Service:
Marine Corps, Rank: Staff Sergeant"
The unnamed gunner, Sgt. Dakota Meyer, was awarded the Medal of Honor
last week. But he is not an immigrant; he’s a good ole boy hero from Kentucky. He’s another story.
Our attention is on Staff Sergeant Rodriguez-Chavez, a Mexican citizen
serving in the United States Marine Corps.
What kind of man drives into a Valley of Death
– FIVE TIMES – with one other Marine machine gunner to help and save 36
Marines and Afghan soldiers? What kind of man leaves the minimal
protection of a so-called armored vehicle to load four bodies (three
Marines and one Navy Corpsman) into his vehicle to bring them home?
Certainly not all Mexicans are like Staff Sergeant Rodriguez-Chavez, not
even all Marines are like him. He does have company, however. He joins
Sergeant Rafael Peralta who was killed in the Battle of Fallujah in
2004, who was awarded a Navy Cross posthumously.
From the Marine Corps Times:
“On Nov. 15,
2004, (Sgt) Peralta and his rifle squad barged into a house during the
second battle of Fallujah and found themselves facing a hail of bullets…
Peralta, 25, was shot in the head during the initial exchange of
gunfire, but he had the presence of mind to grab a grenade tossed near
him on the floor and absorb the blast with his body, shielding squad
members who were only feet away, Marine officials said.”
Peralta was born in Mexico City,
grew up in Tijuana and secured a student
visa to attend high school in
San Diego. After graduating, he was issued a
“Green Card” and joined the Marines on the same day.
The reality is two Mexican immigrants come to the United States of America
as youngsters, graduate from high school and join the United States
Marines. One dies, one lives. Both saved lives of fellow Marines. Both
are credits to the Marines and to Mexicans.
Both make liars of immigration critics and Mexican-haters.
Semper Fi -- my brothers.
Or as we say in our birth language,
mis hermanos. ###
Contreras’
books at Amazon’s Kindle Books – Newest, A Hispanic View: The Late Great
California Republican party (2) Tijuana Drug Cartel Novel, “JUNIORS,”
(3) A Hispanic View: White Anglo Saxon Protestant (WASP) Racism & Hatred
of Mexicans…(4) A Hispanic View: The 2008 Presidential Campaign &
Candidate Barack Obama…(5) A Hispanic View: Hollywood, Berkas and Abayas…(6)
The State of Arizona vs. The United States of America
- His
speaking schedule is available by e-mailing him at
sdraoul@att.net
By
Raoul Lowery Contrera