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On this day in 1944, US Army Pvt. Macario Garcia, a Mexican national who lived in Texas and was drafted into the Army in '42, performed acts of heroism that earned him the Medal of Honor.
2/ In Germany, as acting squad leader of Company B, 22d Infantry, Garcia "singlehandedly assaulted two enemy machine-gun emplacements," per his MOH citation. His company "was pinned down by intense machine-gun fire and subjected to a concentrated artillery and mortar barrage."
3/ According to his biographers Robert and Katherine Bailey, even though Garcia had been shot, "This was the day the fate of his brothers fell on his shoulders. He summoned all his resolve and strength and managed to crawl into the underbrush, while the German machine gunner...
4/"...and riflemen tried to finish him off. He sortied up the hill and through the woods, captured two Germans and took them down the hill. He then went back up after the machine gun. As he proceeded, he faced off with a German rifleman....
5/"...Although hit in the arm during the exchange, Macario delivered the lethal shot. He then killed the two Germans manning the machine gun in the fortified bunker with two shots of his M-1 and killed three more trying to escape...
6/"... He tossed in a grenade to be certain the gunners were dead. Inside the bunker he opened their blue tunics and saw their shrapnel riddled bodies; his nostrils filled with acrid burnt gun powder, and he became nauseated; yet,
he felt elated about completing the mission....
he felt elated about completing the mission....
7/"...He broke the machine gun, striking it against a tree."
Per MOH citation: "Although painfully wounded, he refused to be evacuated and on his own initiative crawled forward alone until he reached a position near an enemy emplacement. Hurling grenades, he boldly assaulted...
Per MOH citation: "Although painfully wounded, he refused to be evacuated and on his own initiative crawled forward alone until he reached a position near an enemy emplacement. Hurling grenades, he boldly assaulted...
8/"...the position, destroyed the gun, and with his rifle killed three of the enemy who attempted to escape. When he rejoined his company, a second machine gun opened fire and again the intrepid soldier went forward, utterly disregarding his own safety. He stormed the position...
9/"...and destroyed the gun, killed three more Germans, and captured four prisoners. He fought on with his unit until the objective was taken and only then did he permit himself to be removed for medical care." https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/marcario-garcia
10/ President Harry Truman awarded Pvt. Garcia the Medal of Honor on August 23, 1945.
"I would rather have a Medal of Honor than be President of the United States," Truman told him.
"I would rather have a Medal of Honor than be President of the United States," Truman told him.
11/ But that's not where Garcia's story ends, because when he returned to Texas he continued to endure bigotry. He was infamously denied service at a restaurant. "I've been fighting for people like you, and now you mistreat me," he reportedly said. https://www.chron.com/local/history/houston-legends/article/Medal-of-Honor-winner-wasn-t-always-celebrated-9130301.php
12/ Garcia formally became a US citizen in 1947 and worked as a counselor at the VA.
He died after a car accident in 1972.
(I went with the spelling of his first name that's on his grave.)
RIP, hero.
He died after a car accident in 1972.
(I went with the spelling of his first name that's on his grave.)
RIP, hero.
