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Fight goes on to honor soldierAUSTIN (AP) — Texas legislators want Congress to right a wrong that they say was caused by bigotry — denial of the Medal of Honor to an American war hero with roots in Mexico.Marcelino Serna served valiantly in World War I and returned to Texas a military legend, but his advocates say he was bypassed for America’s highest military decoration because of his heritage and the fact that he spoke little English.State Rep. Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, last week presented a resolution on Serna’s case to the Texas House Committee on Defense and Veterans’ Affairs. The resolution would ask Congress to reconsider a Medal of Honor for Serna, who died in 1992 at age 95.The resolution has already cleared the state Senate and the House committee. It needs final approval from the full House to be presented to Congress.Serna spoke almost no English when he enlisted in the Army, but after three weeks of training the Army shipped him across the Atlantic.Can you imagine that? A native of Chihuahua, Mexico, thenColorado, sent to England,’’ Pickett said.When Army officers realized that Serna was a Mexican national, they offered him the chance to return home. A friend translated his answer — a firm no.” Serna decided he would stay and fight for the United States.He carried out his duties with uncommon valor. Army records stated that Serna killed three dozen enemy soldiers and captured nearly the same number.Serna received a medal for bravery from the French government, the Croix de Guerre, the British Medal of Honor, the Italian Cross of Merit and two Purple Hearts, among other awards. But the U.S. Medal of Honor, the rarest and most prestigious military decoration, eluded him.After being discharged in 1919, Serna settled in El Paso and became a U.S. citizen five years later. The legislators’ campaign is the latest in a series of attempts to get Serna the recognition they say he deserved all along.As far back as 1995, former U.S. Rep. Ronald Coleman, D-Tfcxas,introduced legislation in Congress to posthumously award Serna the Medal of Honor, but the bill stalled in committee. In 2004, Texas state Rep. Juan Manuel Escobar, D-Kingsville, introduced a resolution asking Congress to back Serna for the Medal of Honor. That measure fizzled, too.Mike Quiroz, a California businessman, discovered Serna’s compelling biography while researching the history of his own father, who also migrated from Mexico.“I think it’s ingrained in our country’s history that we not forget those who served on the battlefield,” Quiroz said.John Spahr, legislative director of the Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars, said Serna’s case symbolizes the difficulty many veterans face in receiving recognition for combat valor.There’s no real advocate for these veterans, especially if it’s gone on for years and years,” Spahr said.But the Department of Defense and U.S. presidents have authorized Medals of Honor decades after the fact.
Newspaper Details
Kerrville Daily Times
Kerrville, Texas, US
Wed, May 06, 2009
Page 28
Full Page
Clipped by
Bernie S.
TX, USA 23 May 2019
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