SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nearly 70 years ago, Latino mothers and wives united with a goal of fighting for recognition for their loved ones who'd served in the military.
Rosie Gaytan with the California Mexican-American Veterans Memorial told ABC10 the women wanted their loved ones recognized for their contributions.
“They proudly served their country, so these mothers wanted to recognize their sons [and] their husbands because they felt they needed to. Nobody else was recognizing them. This is the only statue in the United States that honors Mexican-American war heroes,” Gaytan said.
Gaytan said a group of women known as "La Sociedad de Madres" raised money to have a statue built honoring the soldiers.
“They used to sell tamales, they used to have cakes baked, they used to have dances, just all kinds of things to raise money,” said Gaytan.
Gaytan said the women raised $4,000 and ordered the marble stone carved statue named "El Soldado" from Italy.
Jesse Orta is a Vietnam veteran who met the fierce women. He said the women wanted to show that the Latino community was proud to serve our nation.
“They wanted to make sure that everyone knew that all patriotic American soldiers fighting in combat did not all look like John Wayne,” Orta explained.
The monument was dedicated in 1951 at the Sacramento Mexican American Center at Southside Park. In 1990, years after being refurbished, the monument was moved to the California Capitol Mall.
Today, dozens of families celebrated Veterans Day at the annual Remembrance Ceremony in front of the statue. Guest speakers included the Vice Mayor of the City of Sacramento, Eric Guerra, as well as CalVet Deputy Secretary Minority and Underrepresented Veterans Xochitl Rodriguez and Specialist Leslie Rodriguez from the California National Guard.
Veterans who were honored during the ceremony included:
Abel Hernandez, 94, a WWII Combat Veteran for the U.S. Army. Oscar Garcia a Korean War Combat Veteran Paratrooper for the U.S. Army and Carlos Olivas a Vietnam War Combat Veteran Submariner for the U.S. Navy.
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