Campsite of the "Fighting 69th"

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm proud to pass it along. Somewhere in McAllen, Hidalgo County, there's a marker that remembers a very particular piece of ground, a campsite that held one of the most storied regiments in American military history. We're talking about the Fighting 69th, a famed New York Infantry Regiment, and in 1916 and 1917 they were right here on the Texas border.

Now think about that for a second. New York boys, camped out in the Rio Grande Valley, keeping watch over one of the most restless stretches of borderland in the country. Those were the bandit troubles, and the regiment's job was serious: guarding the border, and preventing the smuggling of arms across the Rio Grande to Pancho Villa.

That is not a small assignment. Every night out there was a test of discipline, of vigilance, of holding the line in difficult country under difficult conditions. And here is where the marker earns its keep as a storyteller.

Because what happened in McAllen didn't stay in McAllen. That tour of duty, those months in the valley heat and the border tension, seasoned the men for the rigors of World War I. That's the word the marker uses.

Seasoned. Like good iron, or a cast-iron skillet, if you want to stay Texas about it. And when those men took that seasoning to France, the Fighting 69th won undying glory.

Undying glory. The marker said it, and I wouldn't dare say it any better.

What the marker says

Famed New York Infantry Regiment. Encamped in McAllen during 1916-1917 bandit troubles, guarding the border and preventing the smuggling of arms across Rio Grande to Pancho Villa. Tour of duty here seasoned the men for rigors of World War I, wherein regiment won undying glory in France. (1970)