Eklektikos
New member
November 1944 Felix Z. Longoria, Jr. was drafted into the U.S. Army and shipped out with the 27th Infantry Regiment to the Philippines.
Seven months after beginning his tour of duty in the Pacific Theatre, Longoria was killed by a Japanese sniper while on a mission.
Pvt. Longoria's remains were not returned to the United States until 1949, and the director of the only funeral home in his hometown would not allow him to lie in state there because he was a Mexican.
The intervention of senator Lyndon B. Johnson, made it possible for Pvt. Longoria to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Longoria became the first Mexican American serviceman to be awarded this honor.
Border Boss: Manuel B. Bravo and Zapata County (Canseco-Keck History Series, 1) by J. Gilberto Quezada; page 85:
Hector P Garcia: Everyday Rhetoric and Mexican American Civil Rights by Associate Professor Michelle Hall Kells Ph.D. and Rolando Hinojosa-Smith
Tejano Epic: Essays In Honor Of Felix D. Almaraz, Jr. by Arnoldo De Leon; page 102
Seven months after beginning his tour of duty in the Pacific Theatre, Longoria was killed by a Japanese sniper while on a mission.
Pvt. Longoria's remains were not returned to the United States until 1949, and the director of the only funeral home in his hometown would not allow him to lie in state there because he was a Mexican.
The intervention of senator Lyndon B. Johnson, made it possible for Pvt. Longoria to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Longoria became the first Mexican American serviceman to be awarded this honor.
Border Boss: Manuel B. Bravo and Zapata County (Canseco-Keck History Series, 1) by J. Gilberto Quezada; page 85:
Hector P Garcia: Everyday Rhetoric and Mexican American Civil Rights by Associate Professor Michelle Hall Kells Ph.D. and Rolando Hinojosa-Smith
Tejano Epic: Essays In Honor Of Felix D. Almaraz, Jr. by Arnoldo De Leon; page 102