FREEDOM'S DEFENDERS DESERVE DAILY SALUTE.

Byline: Raoul Lowery Contreras

THE train from El Paso, Texas, to Los Angeles was full of men in uniform. Sailors, soldiers and Marines, warriors all, were going to the Pacific to fight Imperial Japan. In November 1943, the United States had been warring almost 24 months.

I was on that train. I spoke not a word of English. For, you see, I had just crossed the border from the country of my birth, Mexico, to live in the country of my citizenship, the United States of America, a country at war with the greatest of all evils. I didn't know any of this then because I wasn't even 3 years old.

What I did know was that warriors laughed when I made funny faces and warriors gave me chocolate when they laughed. Thus, using the impeccable logic of an almost-3-year-old, I wandered throughout the train making funny faces and making warriors laugh. I was full of chocolate the entire trip.

HERRERA, SILVESTRE S., Private First Class, U.S. Army, near Mertwiller, France, March 15, 1945. Born El Paso, Texas. Medal of Honor citation . . . he made a one-man frontal assault on a strong point and captured eight enemy soldiers. Pvt. Herrera again moved forward, disregarding the danger of exploding mines to attack the position. He stepped on a mine and had both feet severed, but despite intense pain and unchecked loss of blood, he pinned down the enemy with accurate rifle fire.

``COMMIES INVADE SOUTH KOREA'' read the newspaper headlines June 25, 1950. I knew there was a war on that day, because my ice-cream bar that cost a nickel the day before had doubled in price. At 9-1/2 I knew that war brought higher prices, because I remembered WWII ration coupons and higher prices right after the war.

OBREGON, EUGENE ARNOLD, Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 26, 1950. Born - Los Angeles, Calif. Medal of Honor citation . . . Pfc. Obregon observed a fellow Marine fall wounded. Armed only with a pistol, he . . . dashed from his covered position to the side of the casualty. Firing his pistol with one hand as he ran, he grasped his comrade by the arm with his other hand . . . dragged him to the side of the road . . . when hostile troops began advancing . . . (Obregon) placed his own body as a shield in front of him and lay there firing accurately and effectively (with the wounded Marine's carbine) into the hostile(s) until he was fatally wounded.

I rode my bike past the little corner grocery store on the way to the fifth grade every morning. There, that morning, the newspaper headline screamed ``TRUMAN FIRES MACARTHUR.'' I turned and raced home to awake my father screaming my first political statement, that son of a bitch Truman fired General MacArthur. President Truman had fired our Korean War commander. My second political statement was my ``I Like Ike'' button in the eighth grade in 1952. Candidate General Eisenhower promised to go to Korea to end the stalemated war. I knew he would if he won; he won and he did.

My first day in college was four months before I turned 18. When that birthday came, I left the house for my eight o'clock class, like I did every day. I came home later than usual, just as my three younger brothers and parents sat for dinner.

My mother, noticing a little extra gusto in me asked, How was your day? I replied, Fine. Are you sure? she asked. Yes, the day was very, very good. Why was it so good, she asked. Because I joined the Marines today.

JIMENEZ, JOSE FRANCISCO, Lance Corporal, U.S. Marines Corps, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, Aug. 28, 1969. Born Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico. Medal of Honor citation - Jimenez reacted by seizing the initiative and plunging forward toward the enemy positions. He personally destroyed several enemy personnel and silenced an anti-aircraft weapon. He slowly maneuvered to within 10 feet of hostile soldiers who were firing automatic weapons. . . . In the face of vicious enemy fire, (he) destroyed the position. . . . He continued to press forward . . . (until) he was mortally wounded.

All three of my drill instructors fought in the Korean War that ended just six years before the day I walked into Marine boot camp. They survived. 33,629 Americans were killed and 8,000 more were missing. Many of my boot camp sergeants and officers fought in World War II as well. They survived. 293,986 Americans were killed.

In the toughest boot camp in the world, I had a question: Could I measure up to those who were fighting and dying for me when I was a little kid making faces for chocolate, or calling President Truman a son of a bitch? How many of the Marine sergeants and officers around me lost friends on the islands of Guadalcanal and Tarawa, or some anonymous numbered hill or the Chosin Reservoir in the place called Korea? Later, I would study battles at Yorktown, Gettysburg, Little Big Horn, Belleau Wood, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Monte Casino, Inchon and Khe Sanh where Americans died. I salute them every day, every single day.

I wonder this Memorial Day how many of those laughing boys in uniform on the train I rode from El Paso to Los Angeles, 23 months after Pearl Harbor, died for freedom, died for me.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--2) Remembering this nation's brave who risked it all in defense of freedom should be a daily occurrence, not just Memorial Day.