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Latino communities across the country have joined forces to honor and remember the lives of local Latinos killed during military service. Families nationwide continue to struggle to build costly public memorials dedicated to their loved ones, according to Latina Lista.
Latino communities around the country, from San Antonio, Buffalo, Wisconsin and Minnesota, have been making efforts to honor the sacrifices of local service men and women.
The El Soldado War memorial in California.
Buffalo Rising reported that as of last May, the foundation had been laid for a Hispanic American Veterans Memorial at the Buffalo & Erie County Naval & Military Park.
The memorial, which specifically seeks to memorialize Gabriel A. Rodriguez Post 1928, American Legion and the 65th Infantry Regiment, is “recognized as the ‘first landmark of its kind for Hispanic Americans in the region'” and an “important milestone for soldiers who continue, to this day, to serve in the military.”
California is another state making strides to expand recognition of fallen Latino veterans, Latina Lista’s report said.
The Mexican American Veterans’ Memorial Beautification and Enhancement Committee, a campaign to breathe new life into California’s El Soldado program, will “beautify and enhance the existing memorial” and “secure private funding to complete the project.”
The project began in 1951 to honor Latino veterans killed in World War II, but after years of being the lone memorial in the Capitol, it has become known as the “Homeless Solider”. The committee now seeks to honor not only World War II veterans, but also soldiers who have lost their lives in subsequent wars.