Marching Valley Veterans plan to Pay Tribute to Pvt. Felix Longoria in Three Rivers

EDINBURG - Rio Grande Valley veterans marching to San Antonio to highlight the need for a VA hospital in their region may take a detour in Three Rivers to honor fallen World War II hero Felix Longoria.

Pvt. Longoria died while on a volunteer mission in the Philippines during the last days of World War II. His hometown funeral home in Three Rivers controversially refused to bury him, which led to the formation of the American GI Forum. Recent efforts by the League of United Latin American Citizens and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-McAllen, to get the Three Rivers Post Office named after Longoria have so far failed.

Felix Rodriguez, spokesman for the Valley’s America’s Last Patrol group and member of the Delta-area Veterans of Foreign Wars, discussed the possibility of the marching veterans making a slight detour in Three Rivers to pay homage to Longoria at the post office with state Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, while marching Saturday.

“We haven’t decided yet, but we might stop and honor Felix Longoria in Three Rivers,” said Cmdr. José Maria Vasquez, leader of America's Last Patrol in the Valley, and organizer of the march.

“Felix Rodriguez is keen for us to do it but, unfortunately, he has had to drop out of the march because his sister is ill. We are still thinking about it.”

Rodriguez did not mention Longoria by name when commenting publicly outside Hidalgo County Courthouse Saturday, just prior to the start of the march. However, Rodriguez did complain about Hispanic veterans being discriminated against. He said the media ignored the views of minority servicemen and women during the 2004 presidential election, when Democratic candidate Jon Kerry’s war record was a campaign issue.

“We are the elephant in the living room,” Rodriguez said. “We are not going to be ignored anymore. We are not second-class citizens and neither are our families. We are not invisible.”

Various groups, including America’s Last Patrol, American Legion, Catholic War Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America, and the Non-Commissioned Officers Club, have united for the march. The groups call themselves the United Veterans of the Rio Grande Valley.

The 20-plus veterans who set off on the march expect to get support from veterans from other parts of Texas during their six-day trek to San Antonio. They plan a rally at The Alamo next Friday, Veterans Day.

The veterans are demanding a VA hospital for the region’s 46,000 veterans. They say the number of veterans in the Valley swells to above 100,000 in the winter when Winter Texans arrive.

Before setting off on the march, local politicians and celebrities pledged their support.

“It’s a shame and a disgrace for the families and the veterans that have served this country and, in so many cases, paid the ultimate price, and still be lacking what was promised,” said Tejano music legend Little Joe Hernandez.

Hernandez said that while he did not serve, his family had given 300 years of military service. Hernandez has promised that his band, Little Joe y La Familia will perform live for the veterans when they reach San Antonio.

Hidalgo County Judge Ramon Garcia said the march was historic. Garcia put the number of Valley veterans at 120,000 and said that with the veteran population aging, the need for specialty care was even more acute.

“There are more combat veterans living in our area than anywhere else in the country,” Garcia said. “Our area, our community, has always been there, has always responded to every call our country has made since Texas became a state. We need to make sure that the federal government recognizes the fact that this is area, south of San Antonio, is extremely patriotic.”

Hidalgo County Precinct 1 Commissioner Sylvia Handy said the end of the struggle would not be when the veterans arrive in San Antonio, but when a VA hospital was built in the Valley.

“We should be here and march with them to show the U.S. Congress that our soldiers deserve a VA hospital with their own specialty doctors here in the Valley,” Handy said. “Our veterans desperately need this medical treatment now.”

State Rep. Armando “Mando” Martinez, D-Weslaco, read out the Texas House resolution he passed earlier this year in support of veterans’ hospital being built in Weslaco. The resolution has been sent to the President and every member of Texas’ congressional delegation. “We are here to support you,” Martinez said.

State Rep. Veronica Gonzales, D-McAllen, acknowledged that congressional spending was tight questioned the priorities being set in Washington, D.C. “Before we spend millions of dollars to build a bridge in Alaska that goes nowhere, let’s spend that type of money on something that we really need – to treat people who have given their lives to their country, who have never said now to us,” Gonzales said.

Peña, who hopes to march the entire 225 miles with the veterans, described the event as a pilgrimage. “When called upon, you were there,” Peña told the veterans. “Now it’s time for our country to be there for you.”

Representatives of U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, and state Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, read statements in support of the veterans, the march and the need for a veterans’ hospital in the Valley.

Upon arrival in Falfurrias, Vasquez said the first day of the march had gone well. He said the veterans hoped to march 40 miles per day. The group will go back to the point they left off Saturday evening, and complete the journey to Falfurrias Sunday. They also plan to stay in Alice, Three Rivers, and Pleasanton before arriving in San Antonio next Friday.

“We have got cramp in muscles we did not know we still had,” joked Vasquez, a Vietnam veteran.

Vasquez said the veterans hoped to be joined on the march Sunday by retired Lt. Gen. Marc A. Cisneros, who helped negotiate the capture and surrender of Panamanian General Manuel Noriega, and state Rep. Juan Escobar, D-Kingsville, a decorated Vietnam veteran.

This story appeared in the Rio Grande Guardian.