Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MD, UNITED STATES

09.01.2022

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jaron Wills 

Navy Production Division - Defense Media Activity

The tradition of observing Hispanic heritage began
in 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson designated
a week in mid-September as National Hispanic Heritage
Week. Twenty years later in 1988, President Ronald Reagan
extended that week to a month-long observance.
Hispanic Americans’ contribution to the Navy dates
back to the Revolutionary War and has only increased since
then. Of the nearly 400,000 active and Reserve Sailors in the
Navy today, roughly 67,000 are of Hispanic heritage.
The Navy, strengthened by the diversity of its fighting
force, honors service members of Hispanic American
heritage, who continue to build legacies of patriotism, by
lending their names to our nation’s warships.
There have been at least seven U.S. Navy vessels
named after Hispanic American servicemen.
USNS 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez proudly honors Marine
Corps 1st Lt. Baldomero Lopez, who was posthumously
awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during
the Korean War in 1950.
Lopez was born on Aug. 23, 1925, in Tampa, Florida.
On Sept. 15, 1950, during the invasion of Inchon,
Lopez was a rifle group commander with Company A, First
Battalion, Fifth Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced).
His platoon quickly engaged enemy beach defenses during
the initial assault. Exposing himself to enemy fire, Lopez
moved forward alongside an enemy bunker. As he stood to
throw a grenade, he was hit by automatic weapon fire in the
right shoulder and chest, causing him to fall, dropping the
grenade. Lopez dragged himself to retrieve the grenade, but
due to loss of blood, was unable to grasp it firmly enough to
throw it forward. In a moment of exceptional courage, Lopez
decided to sacrifice himself rather than endanger the lives
of his nearby men. With a sweeping motion of his wounded
right arm, he cradled the grenade under him absorbing the
full impact of the explosion.
In addition to the Medal of Honor, Lopez received the
Purple Heart, Presidential Unit Citation with one bronze star,
China Service Medal, and the Korean Service Medal with two
bronze stars.
USNS Benavidez proudly bears the name of another
Hispanic American hero, Army Master Sgt. Raul “Roy” Perez
Benavidez, who received the Medal of Honor for his selfless
and courageous actions during the Vietnam War in 1968.
Benavidez was born in Texas on Aug. 5, 1935, and enlisted
in the Texas Army National Guard in 1952 during the
Korean War.
While assigned to Detachment B56, 5th Special Forces
Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces in Vietnam, Benavidez
was at a forward operating base in Loc Ninh monitoring
an operation by radio when three helicopters, attempting
an extraction, returned with wounded crew members.
Benavidez voluntarily boarded one of the aircraft to assist in
another extraction attempt.
Benavidez’s actions during the six hours are nearly
indescribable, and the following is taken directly from his
Medal of Honor citation.
“Realizing that all the team members were either dead
or wounded and unable to move to the pickup zone, he
directed the aircraft to a nearby clearing where he jumped
from the hovering helicopter and ran approximately 75
meters under heavy small arms fire to the crippled team.”
Prior to reaching the team’s position, he was wounded
in his right leg, face, and head. Despite his injuries, Benavidez
took charge, repositioning the team members and directing
their fire to facilitate the landing of an extraction aircraft and
the loading of wounded and dead team members. He then
threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team’s
position. Despite his severe wounds and under intense
enemy fire, he carried and dragged half of the wounded
team members to the awaiting aircraft. He then provided
protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved
to pick up the remaining team members. As the enemy’s
fire intensified, he hurried to recover the body and classified
documents on the dead team leader.
When he reached the leader’s body, Benavidez was
severely wounded by small arms fire in the abdomen and
grenade fragments in his back. At nearly the same moment,
the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded, and his helicopter
crashed. Although extremely wounded, Benavidez secured
the classified documents and made his way back to the
wreckage to aid the wounded out of the overturned aircraft.
Under increasing enemy automatic weapons and grenade
fire, he moved around the perimeter distributing water
and ammunition to the men. Facing a buildup of enemy
opposition with a beleaguered team, Benavidez mustered
his strength, began calling in tactical air strikes, and directed
fire from supporting gunships to suppress the enemy’s fire
to permit another extraction attempt.
He was wounded again in his thigh while administering
first aid to a wounded team member just before another
extraction helicopter was able to land. He began to ferry
the troops to the aircraft and on his second trip with
the wounded, he was clubbed from behind by an enemy
soldier. In the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, he sustained
additional wounds to his head and arms before killing the
enemy soldier. He then continued to carry the wounded to
the helicopter while under enemy fire. After reaching the
aircraft, he spotted and killed two enemy soldiers who were
rushing the helicopter outside of the door gunner’s range of
fire. With little strength remaining, he made one last trip to
the perimeter to ensure that all classified material had been
collected or destroyed and to bring back any remaining wounded. Only then did he allow himself to be pulled into
the extraction aircraft. Benavidez’s actions saved the lives of
at least eight men.
Benavidez received the Medal of Honor in 1981 from
President Ronald Reagan during a White House ceremony.
Benavidez also received the Purple Heart and numerous
other awards throughout his distinguished career.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Farragut is named in
honor of another Hispanic American with a legendary military
career, Adm. David Glasgow Farragut, whose brilliant victory
at the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864 helped ensure
Union victory during the Civil War.
Farragut was born at Campbell’s Station near Knoxville,
Tenn., on July 5, 1801.
His first command was the schooner Ferret in 1823–
24 at the age of 22. He served at Brazil Station until late
1837, first as executive officer of USS Delaware, and later as
commander of USS Boxer and USS Decatur.
In April 1844, he was assigned as executive officer of
receiving ship Pennsylvania and remained at Norfolk Navy
Yard until after the Mexican-American War broke out in 1846.
In March 1847, he was given command of USS Saratoga
and saw service during the blockade of Tuxpan. From 1854
to 1859, he served as commandant of the Mare Island
Navy Yard in California. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he
declared allegiance to the Union and was given command of
the Western Gulf Blockading Squadron. In 1862, he and 13
other officers were promoted to rear admiral, a rank never
before used in the Navy.
On Aug. 5, 1864, he scored his most brilliant victory
at the Battle of Mobile Bay when he forced the passage
of Forts Morgan and Gaines at the entrance of Mobile Bay
and captured the Confederate ships Tennessee and Selma
where he uttered the famous phrase, “Damn the torpedoes,
full speed ahead!”
President Abraham Lincoln created the rank of vice
admiral for him on Dec. 31, 1864, which made him the senior
officer in the Navy, and on July 25, 1866, by congressional
act, he became the first officer of the Navy promoted to
full admiral.
Dry cargo ammunition ship USNS Cesar Chavez is
named after Cesar Estrada Chavez, a Navy veteran who
made his greatest contribution to our nation after his military
service as a civil rights activist who co-founded the United
Farm Workers organization.
Chavez was born March 31, 1927, near Yuma, Arizona.
In 1948, he married Helen Fabela and settled in Delano,
where they started their family. In 1952 he became an
organizer for the Community Service Organization, a Latino
civil rights group. Six years later he was the national director
of the CSO, and in 1962, Chavez left the organization and cofounded the United Farm Workers.
Chavez was very passionate about his cause, using
nonviolent tactics such as the Delano grape strike, fasting
to bring national attention to farm workers, and a 340-mile
march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966. In the early
1970s, the UFW organized strikes and boycotts including
the Salad Bowl strike, which was the largest farm worker
strike in U.S. history. It was a wage protest for migrants
working for lettuce and grape growers. As a result, on
June 4, 1975, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into
law the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which
established collective bargaining for farmworkers.
Chavez died peacefully in his sleep on April 23, 1993,
near Yuma, a short distance from where he was born. On
April 29, more than 50,000 mourners gathered at the site of
his first and last public fast in 1968 and 1988, respectively.
On Aug. 8, 1994, President Bill Clinton presented the Medal
of Freedom posthumously to Chavez. His widow accepted
the honor on his behalf.
Destroyer Escort Garcia is named after the first native
Puerto Rican to be awarded the Medal of Honor, Marine
Corps Pvt. Fernando Luis Garcia.
Born Oct. 14, 1929, at Utuado, P.R., Garcia was inducted
into the Marine Corps on Sept. 19, 1951. A member of the
3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, Garcia arrived in Korea in March
1952 and served along the heavily fortified main line of
resistance near Kaesong, north of the Imjin River. During a
series of outpost battles in August and September, in which
Marines and elements of the Chinese People’s Volunteer
Army fought to control of Hill 122 (nicknamed ‘Bunker Hill’),
a major PVA assault took place in the early hours on Sept. 5.
At Outpost ‘Bruce,’ a company of PVA attacked immediately
following an intense artillery barrage. In the ensuing close
combat, now-Pfc. Garcia selflessly threw himself on an
enemy grenade to save his comrades.
USS Garcia was sponsored by Daisy Garcia de Alvarez,
the sister of the late Garcia and commissioned on Dec. 21,
1964, with Cmdr. Donald A. Smith in command.
In addition to the Medal of Honor and other awards and
decorations, Garcia was also awarded the Purple Heart, the
Navy Unit Commendation, and the Korean Service Medal
with two bronze stars.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Gonzalez is named
in honor of another Hispanic American Marine who was
posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, Marine Sgt.
Alfredo Gonzalez.
Gonzalez was born in Texas on May 23, 1946 and
enlisted in the Marine Corps on July 6, 1965.
On Feb. 4, 1968, during his second tour in Vietnam,
Gonzalez was mortally wounded by an enemy rocket
propelled grenade. During the deadly exchange, Gonzalez
utilized several light anti-tank assault weapons, fearlessly
moving from position to position, firing rounds at enemy
emplacements. He successfully destroyed an enemy RPG
position and suppressed much of the enemy fire before
succumbing to his injuries. He gallantly gave his life for his
fellow Marines and his country.
The following year, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew
presented the Medal of Honor to his mother, Dolia Gonzalez.
In addition to the Medal of Honor and many other
awards, Gonzalez received the Purple Heart, the Presidential
Unit Citation, and the Vietnam Service Medal with two
bronze stars.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Rafael Peralta
proudly bears the name of Marine Corps Sgt. Rafael Peralta,
who received the Navy Cross posthumously for his heroic
actions during Operation Iraqi Freedom in November 2004.
Peralta was born April 7, 1979, in Mexico City, Mexico, and
graduated from San Diego’s Morse High School in 1997.
Peralta enlisted in the Marine Corps on the same day he
received his green card, and later received his U.S. citizenship
while serving in the Marines.
In 2004, he deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi
Freedom as a scout leader. On Nov. 15, 2004, Peralta was
heavily engaged in the second Battle of Fallujah, successfully
clearing six houses that morning with his squad. At the
seventh house, their point man opened the door to a back
room and the squad immediately came under close-range
automatic weapons fire from multiple insurgents. While
attempting to get out of the line of fire, Peralta was severely
wounded. As the insurgents fled the building, they threw
a grenade that came to rest near Peralta’s head. Without
hesitation, he pulled the grenade to his body absorbing the
brunt of the blast saving the lives of fellow Marines that
were only a few feet away. Peralta heroically gave his life for
his fellow Marines and country.
In addition to the Navy Cross, Peralta received the
Purple Heart and the Combat Action Badge. In 2007, the
command post for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit at
Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, was named “Peralta Hall” in
honor of the Hispanic American hero.
Today’s Hispanic American service members stand
proudly knowing the accomplishments of their predecessors,
and continue to distinguish themselves at sea, ashore, in the
air, and on submarines through times of peace and conflict.

• Date Taken: 09.01.2022
• Date Posted: 12.28.2022 15:51
• Story ID: 435988
• Location: FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MD, US