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[Pages H4222-H4223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING HISPANIC SOLDIERS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Barragan) for 5 minutes.
Ms. BARRAGAN. Mr. Speaker, this week I have the honor of travelling
to the beaches of Normandy, France, along with a congressional
delegation to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day on the exact
site where over 2,500 brave Americans were to, in the words of Abraham
Lincoln, give their last full measure of devotion.
Several among those fallen were some of the nearly 500,000 Latino
soldiers who served in World War II. By the end of that war, 17 Mexican
Americans received the Congressional Medal of Honor, a source of great
pride for the Latino community and a legacy of honor that has continued
throughout modern history, which now counts 60 Medals of Honor awarded
to soldiers of Hispanic heritage.
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Among the military units with Hispanic representation that
participated in the D-Day invasion was the U.S. Army 79th Infantry
Division, which landed at Utah Beach.
The D-Day forces included men like Nick Alvarez from California, who
led a tank crew that broke through the German defenses that day,
helping to put the Allies on the offensive and, ultimately, helped lead
to the fall of Nazi Germany.
Those D-Day forces also included Private Andrew Ortega from Anaheim,
California, who was one of the very first Americans to land on Omaha
Beach as part of a team of engineers tasked with finding and
neutralizing land mines ahead of the infantrymen taking part in the
assault. Under relentless fire from German guns, Private Ortega
searched for and defused land mines no bigger than eggs. His heroic
efforts in the face of horrific danger no doubt saved countless
American lives.
As we make ready to honor all the troops participating in the D-Day
invasion, I would like to make special mention of Private Louis Martin,
who was a resident of my home district in Wilmington, California, and
who is pictured here in this photo provided by his family.
Private Martin was born in Deming, New Mexico, in 1914, and moved to
Wilmington as a young adult. By the time
[[Page H4223]]
Louis was drafted into the Army, he was married and had a 2-year-old
daughter.
Louis was a member of the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division, which
landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. It was there, on the sands of that
beach 75 years ago, that Private Martin gave his life, for the freedom
of his family, his countrymen, and for future generations of Americans.
We, as a nation, are forever indebted to him, and it gives me great
pride to have him remembered here today.
I thank those who have served, and I extend my deepest condolences to
Private Martin's family and friends. I thank Private Martin and all
members of the Armed Forces who so bravely fought and so gallantly
sacrificed their lives in the service of our Nation during the D-Day
invasion.
It is with the greatest appreciation for their courage,
determination, and fierce belief in this Nation, for which it stands,
that I pay tribute to these fallen soldiers today. It is in their honor
that I pledge to endeavor within this body to strive ever harder to
fulfill the promise of this Nation proposed by our Founders and paid
for with the blood of soldiers like those who fell 75 years ago on the
sands of Normandy.
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