DUANE
Duane's take
The marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, if you're driving through Hidalgo County and you want to understand what one human being can do — not with armies or fortunes, but with grit and purpose and a deep, unshakeable sense of what's right — then let me tell you about Dr. Hector Perez Garcia.
He was born in 1914, in Mexico. But the world had other plans for the Garcia family. In 1917, the Mexican Revolution was making that country a dangerous place, and so the family fled north, legally taking up residence right here in Mercedes, Texas.
A family uprooted by revolution. A child who would go on to shake the halls of the United Nations. But first — school.
In 1932, young Hector Garcia stood before his graduating class at Mercedes High School as valedictorian. He wasn't done. He graduated with honors from the University of Texas in 1936.
Then came a medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School at Galveston in 1940. Then a two-year residency in Nebraska. The man was building something — layer by careful layer.
Then came the war. In 1942, Dr. Garcia didn't wait to be called.
He volunteered for the United States Army and served as an officer and medical corps surgeon. When he was discharged as a major in 1945, he carried with him a Bronze Star and six battle stars, earned in North Africa and Italy. Six.
Battle. Stars. You'd think a man like that would come home, hang a shingle, and rest a little.
And in 1946, he did move his young family to Corpus Christi, where he opened a private practice with his brother. But rest wasn't really in the cards. Dr.
Garcia found himself drawn — that's the word the marker uses, drawn — to the concerns of Mexican-American veterans. Men who had fought under the same flag, bled on the same foreign soil, and come home to find they weren't always treated like they'd earned it. In March of 1948, Dr.
Garcia and others formed the American G.I. Forum. And then came the incident that changed everything — later named the Longoria Affair.
Through that case, Dr. Garcia and the Forum gathered national attention, the kind that opens doors and breaks down walls. Forum activities expanded to take on education reform, desegregation, farm labor, poll tax repeal.
One organization. One doctor. A country beginning to reckon with itself.
The story keeps climbin'. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Garcia as Alternate Ambassador to the United Nations — with a directive to improve relations with Latin America and Spain.
From Mercedes, Texas to the floor of the United Nations. That's not a metaphor. That's the man's actual life.
Hector Perez Garcia lived from 1914 to 1996. The marker says his activities foreshadowed much of the struggle for Mexican-Americans after World War II — and that his life has impacted society from the poorest barrios to the highest echelons of government. From the poorest barrios to the highest echelons.
That's a long road. And it ran right through Texas.
What the marker says
Hector Perez Garcia (1914-1996) was a courageous leader in the Civil Rights movement. He achieved profound change in the treatment of fellow Mexican-Americans through peaceful protest and legal recourse. Garcia was born in Mexico; in 1917, when the Mexican Revolution endangered his family, they fled to the United States, legally taking up residence in Mercedes. In 1932, Garcia was valedictorian of his Mercedes High School class. He graduated with honors from the Univ. of Texas (1936), earned a medical degree from the Univ. of Texas Medical School at Galveston (1940), then completed a two-year residency in Nebraska. In 1942, Dr. Garcia volunteered for the U.S. Army and served as an officer and medical corps surgeon. When discharged as a major in 1945, he had earned a bronze star with six battle stars for service in north Africa and Italy. In 1946, Garcia moved his young family to Corpus Christi, where he opened a private practice with his brother. Dr. Garcia found himself drawn to addressing concerns of Mexican-American veterans. In March 1948, he and others formed the American G.I. Forum. Through the incident later named the Longoria Affair, Dr. Garcia and the Forum gathered national attention. The publicity brought an expansion to forum activities including education reform, desegregation, farm labor, and poll tax repeal. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Garcia as Alternate Ambassador to the United Nations, with a directive to improve relations with Latin America and Spain. Dr. Garcia's activities foreshadowed much of the struggle for Mexican-Americans after World War II. A figure of national and international prominence, his life has impacted society from the poorest barrios to the highest echelons of government. Years of Texas Independence - 1836-2011