Hector García
Hector García Peréz was born on January 17, 1914, in Llere, Tamaulipas, to José García and Faustina Peréz García, both teachers. Three years later the family left Mexico because of dueling factions. Like educators of today, Faustina and José weren't thrilled about bullets in the classroom. As legal immigrants, they moved north of the border and settled in Mercedes, Texas. In the United States, Hector‟s parents lost their teaching credentials so José started out farming but then set up a business in dry goods with his brothers. Faustina was busy with the children, the number eventually reaching nine.
Both parents stressed education to their offspring and though they were no longer paid teachers, they instructed the children in many subjects, giving them an advantage. José and Faustina instilled confidence in Hector and the others to do the best they could with the realization that they could achieve all they set out to do. The children were taught to not even consider or worry about discrimination, even though it was there in Texas. It was as if they were raised in an environment where it didn't exist. They just blocked out distasteful moments and setbacks and continued on. Eventually six youngsters would become doctors of medicine although José figured they all would be in the profession.
Hector was an overachiever, as were most of his brothers and sisters. He was also independent-minded, energetic and a runner but his penmanship resembled that of doctors, so he took up typing. He became a member of the Citizens Military Training Corps (CMTC) of the U. S. Army in 1929 while attending a segregated high school and three years later graduated with the country devastated by the not-so Great Depression. His CMTC commission was that of a second lieutenant. Hector realized that his education derived from school, work, personal activities and home. Hector then entered Edinburg Junior College, which required hitchhiking 30 miles each day to get there.
The García children knew the importance of schooling, but also worked at home or had jobs. Hector worked in a department store on an eight-hour shift for two dollars. Besides farm labor, other jobs he had were distributing circulars, selling newspapers, shining shoes and running a theater. After Edinburg, Hector was set to follow in his brother‟s footsteps by attending the University of Texas (UT) at Austin. Before beginning school, the family hired a chauffeur to drive them there, accompanied by an abundance of food. They ate and slept in the car, avoiding all the discrimination that they would have met had tried restaurants and motels.
Once enrolled at the university, Hector met George I. Sánchez, a scholar and social reformer, who fought vigorously against racism and bias testing, especially dealing with Mexican Americans. Sánchez would be his friend and mentor as well as a supporting influence to many of the students. García boarded at Saldívar House, run by Mexican nuns and developed many friendships during his student years. He was likeable and people helped him out because of it. He didn't forget their kindness and in later years would pay it forward to others. Hector graduated as one of the top students in his class with a degree in zoology with minors in ancient history and English literature. Without a suit and the finances to buy one, he missed graduation ceremonies. It was on to the UT at Galveston to study medicine. His handwriting would soon fit in.
In 1940, he completed his doctorate in medicine at Galveston. While there, Hector became involved in the community, probably motivated by his time at two hospitals serving Mexicans, poor whites and African Americans. This he enjoyed because he was ministering to the sick. They in turn appreciated his efforts and were more open to him than they would have been to white doctors. Hector began a program with medical students and residents to familiarize them with hygiene, diabetes, immunization, cancer and the prevention of disease, so it could be headed off before striking. The residents were so appreciative that he was soon a guest in many homes for dinner.
His residency was spent in Omaha, Nebraska, at St. Joseph‟s Hospital. With the attack on Pearl Harbor and the young doctor still in the Reserves, he was off to serve his country. He hoped to participate as a medical officer but served as an officer in the infantry. Eventually he was part of the medical corps, with the hope of a promotion to captain, since that would provide him with more money to send to his family. That didn't happen right away, but nevertheless he was happy with where he was. He didn't feel the need to be the recipient of gunfire. Once shipped out to North Africa, Hector saw many poor people, as he served as many as he could. He didn't need to rise to such a high level of concern, but he did so, with an article in Stars & Stripes praising his efforts. He was a respecter of no man as he treated everyone the same, caring for them in the same way he had managed the soldiers.
Even though he had a girlfriend in the United States, Hector married Wanda Fusillo, who came from a close-knit family.
He may have met her as a favor to a friend. At the time of the marriage, Wanda hadn't realized that he was Mexican American, thinking he was European. When they moved to Texas, she wasn't ready for it but supported him in his work, despite his family being so much opposite hers. He loved and cared for her despite all his activities, which she would soon discover. Once in Texas, he set up an office in Corpus Christi. It was here that not only did his medical work continue, but also his grassroots organizing.
Joe Geiger, an official for veterans‟ services, became his friend and referred those from the war who needed help. Hector saw others besides Mexican Americans and his practice grew. As before, he listened to the patients and encouraged them in healthy habits, seeing them even if their resources were limited. Hector continued his crusade for health. He sent a request to the office of Army recruiter Gilbert Césares, asking for equipment and some help in his endeavor. At first Gilbert was intimidated but then he was recruited. The pair was on a mission of sanitation and disease prevention. Before long, García became a member of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and they would provide knowledge for his cause.
It didn't take long for Hector to see that the challenge involved more than he imagined. This came about because of a cycle of neglect. In the Mexican American community, there were those who rose to the top – they let no one hold them back – but then went ahead and ignored their brothers and sisters. Some were concerned and worked to make things better, but not all. Desperate people fell into two classes: those who worked to better their condition and those who gave up. This scenario of the haves and have-nots existed within most groups of people. It exists even today.
Hector‟s family experience put him into the category of those who advanced from the bottom through education, but then contributed to assist others to move upward. Parents contributed immensely but still couldn‟t provide financial support. In too many cases, learning wasn't an opportunity as the children needed to work on the farm to support the family. This only kept the struggle going. The poverty meant horrible living conditions, poor nutrition, sickness and the status quo. Discrimination brought much of this about. Parents couldn‟t teach their children English if they couldn‟t speak it themselves. The same applied to teaching if a mother and father hadn't attended school. Those who labored in the fields received another setback with the Bracero Program, an agreement between the United States and Mexico bringing workers from south of the border to work in Texas and other states. Since the plantation bosses would pay as little as they wanted, current workers would either see their wages lowered or lose their job altogether, forcing them to look elsewhere for employment.
Seeing that he was working for veterans, it wasn't long before García saw that men and women could fight for their country, but then return home and be completely ignored. It didn't matter if you were Mexican, African American or Italian. The U. S. Government simply neglected those who fought against the Nazis. Working for veterans soon became another one of his passions, especially finding a place for victims of tuberculosis. García called for men and women of war to meet at Lamar Elementary School in March 1948. The crowd was about 600 and former soldiers offered their stories. This was the beginning of the American G. I. Forum, which had three objectives: defending American democracy; assisting veterans; encouraging Mexican American participation. The group never took on the civil rights identity, but that is exactly what they were fighting for. They were accused of being communists, radical and agitators.
Hector‟s approach predated the activism of the 1960s. He was a pioneer of the civil rights movement. García objected to the notion of Mexican American earning their rights. wasn't that done by service during World War II? How soon they forget. The young doctor recruited people for the Forum, inviting them to meetings where he spoke about veteran issues. Going to Beeville, Kingsville, Mathis and Gregory, he contacted veterans, reformers, politicians and club leaders. Hector was a hero to the people of the barrio. To raise funds, the Forum held cakewalks – a kind of musical chairs type raffle to win baked goods. didn't I say he favored good health? Picnics, dances and membership fees also embellished the treasury.
He was still a great doctor, but besides civil rights work, he saw 40 patients a day and had office hours on Saturday, which was meant for some people who couldn‟t come up with payment. Some of these people could visit him for help during the other part of the week. Helping others brought joy to him but he needed more from them – civic responsibility. To affect change, people needed to vote, thus bringing people into politics who would help Mexican Americans, including repealing the poll tax. The tax wasn't that much for whites to pay, but people in the barrio struggled just to put food on the table. Encouraging his patients to vote was García‟s challenge.
Felix Longoria was killed by a sniper from Japan and died in the Pacific in June 1945. He was buried there. It took a while, but in January 1949, his body was to be shipped back home sometime within a few weeks. All that was needed was a burial site. Felix‟s wife Beatrice talked to Tom W. Kennedy, the manager of a funeral home in Three Rivers and he assured her that he could handle everything. In a short while, Kennedy said that he couldn‟t allow Felix in the funeral home because of complaints from white people. It was a simple case of business discrimination. Hector heard of the problem and contacted members of the Forum and others, even writing to Senator Lyndon Johnson. There was much activity and then Johnson offered a burial place in Arlington Cemetery for Felix. There were other offers but most agreed that the Senator‟s was most fitting. Various cries of political advantages arose with newspapers writing about the decision, some favorable and others not. On February 16, 1949, Felix was laid to rest in the nation‟s capital, the first Mexican American to be so honored. It shouldn‟t have come down to this – the racism and then the reaction – but the final decision was brought about due to the activism of García. The saga was written about in newspapers across the country and the American G. I. Forum became better known in the movement for civil rights.
Discrimination in education had been challenged for years but the practice was still going on. Hector fought this but even with the passage of numerous laws outlawing it, there was little if any enforcement. Many school districts solved the issue by stalling to make any changes. They also found loopholes as well, so that the laws meant nothing. This violation took place even with warnings that school subsidies would end if the law weren't followed. Mexican Americans and African Americans were still kept out of restaurants, motels, the workplace, swimming pools and theaters, so the school thing didn't seem to be that big a deal. Someone replaced the Bill of Rights with the Bill of Wrongs.
Nonetheless, the Forum grew and people knew who García was. His influence on others was unsurpassed. Ed Idar, Jr. from Laredo, credited the doctor for his journey into social reform. His contribution as a journalist was enhanced with his becoming a lawyer. To Hector, Vincente Ximenes had the most potential of all his disciples. Earning a Distinguished Flying Cross in the war, Vincente created an American G. I. Forum chapter in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He also became one of the first national chairmen of the group. Other leaders included Chris Aldrete, who led the attack against school segregation, and attorney Albert Peña, Jr., who was elected to a county seat in San Antonio. In South Texas, Robert Sanchez was a law partner of Idar who assisted many politicians in the Democratic Party. As soon at the Forum was created, Hector allowed women to participate in bringing about change for the poor and in need.
Molly Galván had much to do with the establishment of national Women's auxiliary of the Forum. Nellie Novarro worked on organization of the Forum in Kansas, and in central Texas, Dominga Coronado rebuked segregation. Isabelle Telles assisted her husband Louis in Albuquerque in the national office. Margarita Simón of El Democrata participated in American G. I. Forum activities in Austin.
García never ran for any political office but was involved in the scene, supporting and promoting candidates who would stand by Mexican Americans and the downtrodden, regardless of the color of their skin. He and Lyndon Johnson knew each other and García voted for him, even preferring him to JFK in the 1960 election. Hector only voted Republican once in protest that the Democrats weren't concerned about barrio issues. Nonetheless, García spoke his mind about and to Lyndon and others if he wasn't happy with their policies and programs.
As the years went by, the doctor and the Forum faced challenges from the Chicano Movement as well as from within. People chastised him for so little progressive change. All this could have been avoided if politicians and society had accepted people of color – African Americans, Mexican Americans and all the others – as citizens of the United States rather than demeaning, persecuting and treating them as less than human beings. A big step would have been to listening what García and the Forum were advocating relative to justice, and actually taking action, but even today discrimination is prevalent.
Though José and Faustina García had much to do with so many of the children and their accomplishments, there was one concern that especially affected Hector. The word wasn't around at the time when he and his siblings were going to school, but the social activist was a workaholic. This meant that his wife and family had to be understanding and realize they wouldn't see much of him. A truly close-knit family, such as Wanda had experienced before meeting her husband, wasn't about to happen. Fortunately, she accepted his mission but would have preferred a different fate. García was also known to have a temper and always be the boss. He was known to have difficulty in working with other groups. Despite this, he was responsible for great change in society.
Hector died at the age of 82 in Corpus Christi on July 26, 1996. At the funeral, he was eulogized by President Bill Clinton. Band and choirs performed his favorite songs: the “National Anthem," "Battle Hymn of the Republic,"
"America the Beautiful” and “Amazing Grace.” Wanda died on September 20, 2008 at the age of 87. Garcia earned the Army Bronze Star and six battle stars. Some of his other numerous awards include: Medalla al Merito of the American G.I. Forum, 1952; Condecoracion, Orden Vasco Nunez de Balboa from the Republic of Panama, 1965; NAACP humanitarian award, 1969; Civil Rights Distinguished Service Award, 1980; Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1984; Hispanic Heritage Award in Leadership, 1989; Equestrian Order of Pope Gregory the Great from Pope John Paul II, 1990; honorary doctorate from Corpus Christi State University, 1991. Pueblo Colorado has a street named after him. You can find more about him and the American G.I. Forum in the 2002 book by Ignacio M.
García – no relation – Hector P. García: In Relentless Pursuit Of Justice.