CECILIA GARCIA AKERS: THANK YOU MR. ZUNIGA

THANK YOU MR. ZUNIGA FOR FORWARDING THE INFORMATION REGARDING THE
CELEBRATION OF DR. HECTOR P. GARCIA'S RECOGNITION DAY. IT IS GOING TO
BE A JOYFUL WEEK FOR THE GARCIA FAMILY AS MANY COMMUNITIES NOT ONLY IN
CORPUS CHRISTI, BUT AROUND THE STATE OF TEXAS WILL BE REMEMBERING ALL
MY FATHER'S MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND THE IMPACT HE MADE ON THEIR
LIVES. MY MOTHER MRS. HECTOR P. GARCIA WILL BE ATTENDING THE LUNCHEON
AT LA SIESTA CAFE WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE GARCIA FAMILY, INCLUDING
MYSELF, DR. CP GARCIA, AND DR. DALIA GARCIA. IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARD,
WE WILL BE ATTENDING THE CELEBRATIONS AT JA GARCIA SCHOOL, AND MILLER
HIGH SCHOOL. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT SOME OF THE EVENTS.

THANK YOU.

CECILIA GARCIA AKERS

Esteemed Forumeers and Friends:

The American GI Forum of the US Central Committee of Corpus Christi cordially requests your presence during the week of 16-22 September to honor our founder Dr. Hector P. Garcia. Events start on Monday, 17 September 2007, at 9:00 a.m. at Seaside Memorial Park with a morning memorial service.

There will be a luncheon in honor of Dr. Hector P Garcia on the designated recognition day (19 Sept 2007) by the State of Texas at La Siesta Cafe from 11 AM - 1 PM, at 2331 Agnes St. (361-882-0814). Hosting Chapters are Beatrice Perez Robstown Women's Chapter and the Dr. Hector P. Garcia Founders Chapter.

There is a 75 seat capacity so please call Dr. Dalia Garcia at 993-6319 to RSVP.

The American GI Forum of Texas-Pvt. Felix Z. Longoria Chapter of Corpus Christi, Texas will be conducting ceremonies recognizing Dr. Hector P. Garcia per House Concurrent Resolution No. 273 as well as commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. on the grounds of Three Rivers City Hall.

Contact Santiago Hernandez, Civil Rights Chairman

American GI Forum-Pvt. Felix Z. Longoria Chapter, Corpus Christi, TX

Home Phone: (361) 851-0958

Cell Phone: (361) 249-5222

Email: Mariachi40@Grandecom.Net

Tentative Program Agenda

11:00AM Opening Remarks

Santiago R. Hernandez, Civil Rights Chairman

American GI Forum-Pvt. Felix Z. Longoria Chapter

Corpus Christi, Texas

11:05AM Posting of Colors

American GI Forum Members

11:10AM Pledge of Allegiance

Debbie Salazar, National Chairwoman

American GI Forum of the United States

Denver, Colorado

11:15AM Invocation

Sara Posas, Chaplain

American GI Forum-Pvt. Felix Z. Longoria Chapter

Portland, Texas

11:20AM Welcome Remarks

James Liska, Mayor

Three Rivers, Texas

11:25AM Hispanic Heritage Month

Moices Cortez, Hispanic Employment Program Manager

Federal Correctional Institution-Three Rivers, Texas

11:30AM Introduction of Guest Speaker

Willie Perez, Commander

American GI Forum-Pvt. Felix Z. Longoria Chapter

Corpus Christi, Texas

11:35AM Guest Speaker

Wanda Garcia, Daughter of Dr. Hector P. Garcia

Austin, Texas

11:50AM Closing Remarks

Paul Herrera, State Commander

American GI Forum of Texas

San Antonio, Texas

The Johnny Canales International Forum invites you to the Community Leaders Banquet to honor Dr. Hector P. Garcia. The event will be held on Wednesday 19 Sept 2007 at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown. There will be no tickets sold at the door. For more information call (361) 241-4535. The reception will start at 6:00 p.m. and the banquet will follow at 7:00 p.m. Honored guest are:

Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa Solomon Ortiz, Jr. Juan Garcia

State Senator State Representative State Representative

Abel Herrero Juan Manuel Escobar Yvonne Gonzalez Toureilles

State Representative State Representative State Representative

Other Honored Guests:

Nelda Martinez Mikal Watts Baldemar Gutierrez

City Councilwoman Attorney Attorney

Roger Rocha Paul Herrera KZTV Channel 10

Texas State LULAC Commander

Director American GI Forum

of Texas

The Coastal Bend Area Women's Chapter will hold their event titled Mass in Remembrance of Dr. Hector P. Garcia for Gold Star & Blue Star Mothers on Thursday, September 20, 2007, at 5:30 P.M. Location: St. Patrick's Catholic Church at 3350 Alameda Street, Corpus Christi, Texas

Contact Person: Anna Guzman - (361) 994-8811 or (361) 774-4164

Pews have been reserved for all Gold Star & Blue Star Mothers attending including all Forumeers. Please come out and honor these women and their loved ones who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our rights and the rights of others unable to defend themselves.

ANGEL ZUNIGA
Chair, Central Committee

Hector Garcia celebration is made official

By Mary Ann Cavazos (Contact)
Saturday, September 15, 2007

U.S. Army Pvt. Felix Z. Longoria

Dr. Hector P. Garcia (1968)

CORPUS CHRISTI — Area schools and local American GI Forum chapters will recognize Dr. Hector P. Garcia on Wednesday, the first official state holiday celebration for the civil rights leader.

A resolution passed during the 80th legislative session designated the third Wednesday of September to remember the doctor's life and legacy, but is not a mandatory day off for Texans.

National Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins today, runs through Oct. 15.

Garcia, who founded the American GI Forum in 1948, worked tirelessly for the rights of area Hispanic veterans who were being denied educational, medical and housing benefits promised under the GI Bill of Rights. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan awarded Garcia the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor given to a civilian by the president. Garcia died in 1996.

Both J.A. Garcia Elementary School, named for Garcia's brother, and Miller High School will have assemblies on Wednesday to honor him. Garcia's daughter, Cecilia Garcia Akers, and Rep. Juan Garcia, D-Corpus Christi, who both pushed for the legislation, will attend.

The Community Leaders Banquet, presented by the Johnny Canales American GI International Forum, also will pay tribute to Garcia along with several state lawmakers.

Joe Ortiz, the chapter's commander, said the holiday will further educate others, especially students, about Garcia's civil rights efforts.

"I'm glad it's going to schools," Ortiz said. "It's about time more people know about Dr. Garcia."

For the past two weeks, students at Garcia Elementary School have been learning more about Garcia and his contributions, said principal Norma A. De Leon.

"Even though they're very young, I know that it's going to have meaning in their lives," De Leon said.

The school will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year.

The Dr. Hector P. Garcia Founder's Chapter and the Beatrice T. Perez Women's Chapter will join Wednesday for a luncheon.

The Pvt. Felix Z. Longoria Chapter will have a ceremony Wednesday on the Three Rivers City Hall grounds.

"A lot of us wouldn't be where we are today if not for him," said Santiago R. Hernandez, the chapter's civil rights chairman. "He fought, he persevered, and we want to honor him for that."

The chapter's namesake was a U.S. Army soldier killed in the Philippines in 1945. When his body was returned to his hometown of Three Rivers, a funeral home declined to host a wake because he was Hispanic, Longoria's family members have said.

After Garcia and then Texas Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson intervened, Longoria was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. The event was highly publicized and helped to cement the American GI Forum as a major civil rights organization.

Contact Mary Ann Cavazos at 886-3623 or cavazosm@caller.com

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Comments

Posted by luckybryan on September 15, 2007 at 6:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)

A promise, kept, is a beautiful thing to see.

Lots of work by soo many people - successful at last.
Thank you, Cecilia Garcia Akers, daughter of Dr. Hector
Thank you, Rep. Juan Garcia, advocate for Dr. Hector
Thank you, Mr. Santiago Hernandez, advocate for Dr. Hector

Posted by intheknow on September 15, 2007 at 7:17 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Last checked the bill passed out of the senate not the house. Sen. Hinojosa is the one who did the work. Please give Sen. Hinojosa due credit.

Posted by claudedunger on September 15, 2007 at 7:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)

To everybody who made this work, congratulations. From those who had the good fortune to be familiar with Dr. Hector's work, understand his love for human dignity, or had the good fortune to have made his acquaintance, thank you.

Posted by camaradas on September 15, 2007 at 1:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Thank you for all involved to have this happen. I still hold on dearly to comments and advice given to me by him. Very early on in my teaching career I dedicated teaching my students about him and the great work he helped accomplish. It is so wonderful to know that now even more students will have that knowledge. He was an awesome gentleman.

Posted by luckybryan on September 15, 2007 at 7 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Commander Joe Ortiz, what an awesome role model and leader. Senator Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, a Vietnam veteran, gets it done for Dr. Hector P. Garcia, a WW II veteran. The wonderful students of J. A. Garcia Elementary School have achieved Perfect Attendance one! maybe two!! times since school started Aug. 27, 2007. Roy Miller High School is the home school of more US military service personnel through the years than any other school in Texas, possibly USA. Its tribute exhibit makes viewers extra-prouder to be Texans first and Americans always.

Thank you, Sen. Juan Hinojosa, advocate for Dr. Hector.
Thank you, Norma De Leon, and Garcia school community.
Thank you, Delia McLerran, principal, and Miller school community.
Thank you, Joe Ortiz, Chapter, and especially to the Ladies Auxiliary.

What a nice thing to do for Dr. Hector. The KEDT-TV movie -- You gotta see it to get the big picture of how it was and how it is. Stay in school. Get an education. Work hard. Get rich. God bless America. Support our Troops. Call your Mother.

BurkaBlog: Watts Gets Tough Reception at UT

BurkaBlog: Watts Gets Tough Reception at UT


Nice piece of work Paul. Why would anybody vote for a candidate who cannot challenge the incumbent in the General election.

It is a mistake to even address Rick although I believe he is a good man, he cannot pull the demographic needed to defeat Junior John.

right now is as good as it gets for the netroots progressives who are about two issues furthering pro choice and same sex marriage.

Not a reasonable group and they can care less about the other issues unless there is a vulnerability to exploit.

DearTony Morales, A Simple Solution: Apologize to everyone for the disgrace perpetuated. When you screw up admit it, try harder & make up for mistakes

Yes, People are Angry even indignant but you are the leader. Try to ease the concerns, try to answer questions but most of all do not displace your frustration and try real hard to never lose your temper. Name calling is divisive and defeats your expression of reasoning regardless of strength or logic. Try to understand and consider the wisdom of the body who you represent. Forgiveness begins with an Apology.

Also, I would like to point out that Hispanics are only one of the unrepresented people who in unity make up "The American Warrior". If I understand correctly, this documentary is Historically unrepresentative and inaccurate in many aspects.

Mexican Air Force Officer 1931 Prior to WWII, the Mexican Armed Forces had a very small contingent that was a unit of the Army. They wore army uniforms with air branch insignia. Pictured here is an officer in 1930s dress wear with stand up collar and garrison belt. Note similarity of winged prop and pilot badge to US design.

Mexican Air Force Officer 1945 This picture depicts 1Tte Carlos Varela stationed in the Phillipines as part of the Mexican Expeditionary Force, Squadron 201. He is wearing all standard issue US khaki dress with a Mexican hat and insignia. The hat features a cockade and rank inisgnia. The pilot wears US wings on his right chest and Mexican wings on the left. Note the change in design in the Mexican wing to a more aztec look.

General Antonio Cárdenas Rodríguez, commanding officer of the Mexican Expedionary Air Force and the 201st Mexican Fighting Squadron that flew in Philippines in 1945. He led the mission as a Colonel.This photograph was a gift, for every mexican man that served in far east, the message on the pic is: "Cordially to the members of the air squad 201. 24-II-1949. Cárdenas." In this formal portrait from immediately after the war, the General wears a more modern service dress adopted by almost all postwar air forces. Branch of service and rank are on the shoulder. Not the command wing with its large size and aztec style wings.

Mexican Expeditionary Air Force 201 Squadron, Phillipines This group of officers are posing at their base in the Phillipines. 201 Squadron flew P-47 Thunderbolt fighters and were one of the only Mexican active fighting units in the war.

Mexican Expeditionary Air Force 201 Squadron, Flight A Clark Field 1945. Pictured are l-r:1Tte Graco Ramirez, 1Tte Carlos Varela, 1Tte Fernando and Cpt Roberto Legurreta.

Does it include women,

Negroes,

Native Americans

or the assignment of the sons of the Elite?

Does it mention Paperclip or Odessa?

Peter Grace, Asbestos or the smuggling of Nazi War Criminals via our southern border?

The point is not about a bias toward Hispanic Soldiers but an ignorance Mr Burns will not address. To ignore the complete portrait of the American Warrior and leave out very significant heroes and characters is not about race but about skewing history and a man who refused to do his homework.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

WWII PBS documentary blasted for ignoring Hispanics

L-R: media interviews National President of LULAC, Rosa Rosales, Fox-29 interviews Coalition spokesman Peter Vallecillo, Nick Pena, Central Labor Council (CLC) President Alicia Garza, Union musician Mike Muniz, Chaplain, Tony Mandujano, National LULAC Treasurer Jaime Martinez & Coalition spokesman Peter Vallecillo, Foxs News-29 Producer Michael Board, Angie Garcia, Leon Hernandez, former Councilman Henry Avila,KSAT-12 & NEW-4 WOAI Photographers, Newspaper Reporter, crowd, American GI forum cap

Protesters packed the VFW Post on 10th Street, Thursday, September 13th in support of "Defend the Honor" San Antonio Coalition.

One after one, speakers complained that only 18 minutes of a 14-hour documentary produced by Ken Burns for PBS on WWII to air September 23rd, mentioned contributions of Hispanic soldiers to the War. One speaker pointed out that Hispanics contributed the highest number of Congressional Medal of Honor recipients among minority groups who served in that war.

Texas Public Education Watchdog Authority: Why would Texas re elect a loser who ALWAYS votes against education and Texas children?

Texas Public Education Watchdog Authority: Why would Texas re elect a loser who ALWAYS votes against education and Texas children?

Why would Texas re elect a loser who ALWAYS votes against education and Texas children?

Cornyn poised in re-election fight to stick by Bush on taxes, Iraq
Republican seeking second U.S. Senate term next year is banking that voters will back him on stands he's taken.
Listen to this article or download audio file.Click-2-Listen

By W. Gardner Selby
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

For someone who proclaims his independence from the White House, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas can still sound like a cheerleader for President Bush.

Speaking to fellow Republicans in Fort Worth at a presidential straw poll recently, Cornyn staked a claim to re-election next year as a pro-war, anti-tax candidate who expects to match up with voter sentiments in his home state.

Ralph Barrera
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
(enlarge photo)

John Cornyn says he has differed with Bush some.

MORE W. GARDNER SELBY
W. GARDNER SELBY


He stressed his support for the course Bush has set in Iraq and suggested that voters can rely only on Republicans to extend the tax cuts Bush made in his first term.

Two Democratic Senate hopefuls, San Antonio lawyer Mikal Watts and state Rep. Rick Noriega of Houston, are counting on voters to hold Cornyn accountable for Republican stewardship of Congress in the first four years of his six-year term.

"People will not rehire someone who has had bad plans replaced by more bad plans," Noriega said.

Watts called Cornyn a senator "who parrots exactly what he's told to say by this administration and Karl Rove," the former White House counselor.

Cornyn, who ran in 2002 as part of "Team Bush," said in an August interview that he has been a Bush ally on judicial appointments and the war on terrorism but that he has also parted with his friend on a few issues.

A Cornyn proposal to allow greater access to federal records has cleared the Senate without White House backing. Cornyn also is among senators at odds with the president by proposing to give states alternative ways of complying with the federal education accountability system that Bush started.

Also, he and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., are seeking to grant the Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco and ingredients including nicotine, a step yet to be endorsed by Bush.

This summer, Cornyn opposed the Bush-favored compromise on changes to immigration policy. The senator unsuccessfully offered an amendment barring felons and other offenders from legal residency.

He later called Bush tone-deaf on the issue. "I don't think he had any real concept of the public engagement on that issue," he said.

In Fort Worth, though, Cornyn said Bush was absolutely right to raise the specter of Vietnam when discussing Democrats' calls for a timed withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

If American forces leave prematurely, Cornyn said, the region will plunge into a humanitarian crisis, and unwatched terrorists will plot attacks. "Unless we get the job done, they will follow us here," he said. "And we've got to make sure that never ever happens again. Not another 9/11, not ever."

His Democratic opponents each noted that as young men, Cornyn and Bush didn't serve in Vietnam.

Noriega, a lieutenant colonel in the Texas National Guard, said, "Comparing Vietnam to the Middle East is like comparing apples to wheat; they are not in the same food group. Differences include geography, terrain, cultures, religion, technology, history of region, just to name a few. This is just another example of the unfortunate circumstance we face when we have leaders who have not walked the walk."

Watts said, "I don't think there is a plan for victory in Iraq. ... We have to stay in the region, but I don't think we should be standing around on street corners getting shot at while we observe someone else's civil war."

On the domestic front, Cornyn charged Democrats with planning not to extend tax cuts enacted at Bush's request starting in 2001. Barring congressional action, cuts of income, capital gains, dividends and other taxes will expire in 2011.

On Capitol Hill, the cuts are rated either Bush's keystone domestic achievement or a gift to the nation's wealthiest residents.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that extending the tax cuts would cost the government more than $1.8 trillion through 2017.

Tax-cut advocates say such money rightly belongs to taxpayers.

Cornyn's take: Democrats will let into law the biggest tax increase in history.

"They're going to do it without a single vote unless we get the majority back," he said. "They're going to do it because the tax relief that we passed under President Bush back in 2003 will expire unless we make it permanent. And we have to get the majority back and keep taxes low and keep America growing."

Watts said he would review each tax cut one by one but opposes extending cuts for the wealthy as long as government runs a deficit.

Noriega called it "blatantly false" to forecast all the cuts vanishing.

Nationally, 52 percent of voters favored making the tax cuts permanent in a poll conducted this year by Moore Information, an Oregon-based research firm. Thirty-eight percent preferred to let the cuts expire, and 10 percent had no opinion.

Republicans and a plurality of independents supported making the cuts permanent. A majority of Democrats wished to see them expire.

About half of respondents agreed that the cuts should be extended only for households with annual incomes of less than $150,000. About a third of voters favored making the cuts permanent for everyone.

Jason Furman, an economist and senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, an independent research outfit, testified before the House Ways and Means Committee last week that extending the cuts would widen after-tax income gaps between Americans.

Furman said a best-case U.S. Treasury projection suggests an extremely slight impact on the economy, with extended cuts more likely increasing the national debt and reducing government savings.

An eventual need to repay the cuts, he said, would drive down disposable income as taxpayers see cuts in government programs or bumps in taxes to bankroll the cuts, leaving at least three in four households with lower after-tax incomes.

"There is no free lunch because, ultimately, the government faces a budget constraint," Furman said.

wgselby@statesman.com, 445-3644