The
story of Macario
García...
meaning.
It was on the morning of June 6, 1944, that the largest military
amphibious assault in history was launched. The attack was made by
Allied forces to liberate Europe from Nazi Germany. The endeavor
was code-named, "Operation Overlord." We know it today
as, D-Day. Thousands
of American, British, Canadian, and French soldiers were involved
in the assault along a 50-mile stretch of French beach known as
Normandy. They were supported by paratroopers, bombers, and
warships. By the end of the day, over 2,500 of the Allied troops
involved in the amphibious assault were dead (10,000 were
predicted to die, according to Allied commanders). Over 5,000
American paratroops were killed or wounded. Macario
García was very much a part of the D-Day invasion. In fact, he
was one of the many wounded in action during the invasion of
Normandy. García, much to the dismay of the Germans, recovered
from his wounds and went on to become a recipient of the Medal of
Honor. The
story of this soldier is a very interesting one. I started looking
for information about him after receiving a call from a gentleman
in Waelder, Texas, who said that Macario García had lived near
that town. According to The Handbook of Texas, García was born in
Villa de Castaño, Mexico, on January 2, 1920. He was one of ten
children and his family moved to Texas in 1923. The
information in The Handbook of Texas briefly states that the García
family eventually settled near Sugar Land. Where they lived prior
to that however, is not mentioned. So, it is possible that he did
spend part of his youth living in the Waelder vicinity. One
of the things I found most intriguing about the García story was
that he was not even a citizen of the United States when he was
drafted by the army. American citizen or not, this young man
distinguished himself on the battlefield. Reports indicate that on
November 27, 1944, near Grosshau, Germany, he single-handedly
assaulted two German machine-gun emplacements. García
was wounded in the shoulder and foot, but yet he fought on — he
killed six enemy soldiers and captured four others. Not satisfied
until the mission was complete, he finished off the machine-gun
nests with grenades. This heroic feat resulted in García being
awarded the Medal of Honor. It was presented to him by President
Harry S. Truman during a ceremony at the White House on August 23,
1945. Macario
García went on to win other battlefield citations including: The
Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and the Combat Infantryman's Badge.
He was also presented with the Mérito Militar (Mexican equivalent
to the Medal of Honor) during a ceremony in Mexico City on January
8, 1946. After
three years of active service to the United States, Sergeant
Macario García received his honorable discharge and left the
army. He was officially listed as a citizen of Mexico at the time. Macario
García became somewhat of a celebrity in Texas. He was asked to
speak at banquets and to appear at meetings. He was receiving the
well-deserved thanks of grateful citizens for his dedication to
duty during the war. Everything
seemed to be going well for García, until September of 1945 —
it was then that racism raised its ugly head. The young soldier
had stopped in the town of Richmond, Texas, to have a bite to eat.
Because he was Hispanic, the restaurant denied service to García.
The veteran of the Normandy invasion became outraged, and who
could blame him. After all, he had risked his life for his adopted
country and yet he was being treated as a second-class citizen. García
fought with the owner of the restaurant and the police were
called. The Medal of Honor winner was arrested and charged in the
incident. But the affair outraged the Hispanic community and
others as well. When the case went to trial, García was acquitted
and rightly so. Macario
García became an American citizen on June 25, 1947. He earned his
high school diploma in 1951 and got married in 1952. Macario and
Alicia García raised three children. The Normandy veteran worked
as a counselor for the Veteran's Administration for 25 years. After
surviving the D-Day invasion and taking everything that the
Germans could throw at him — Macario García was killed in a car
crash on December 24, 1972. He is buried in the National Cemetery
at Houston, Texas. Is
the sixth of June just another day? Not to those who remember....
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