Veterans Day: The Veterans March of Honor

Woke up this beautiful morning to the sounds of bells from the San Jose Mission. A cool 72 degrees invites us to our final 4.2 miles on the highway to the Alamo. Our veterans hall, where many slept last night, lies directly north of the mission. I take a moment to visit the small chapel behind the mission before we begin our 9:00 am journey for the veterans community who search for the same commitment from their government that they gave when they served. We must never forget the hundreds of thousands who paid the with their lives so that a lonely rag-tag bunch from the nearly forgotten regions of Deep South Texas could walk through the country they so faithfully served.

As our 9:00 am march begins, escorted by the good officers of the San Antonio Police Department, accompanied by representatives of the Mayor of this fine city we march over the San Antonio River. We enter the downtown district of San Antonio remembering the long, painful hours through the grueling and tortuous heat that rises from the South Texas highways. Each time one tires a voice deep within the human spirit cries out that we must not forget.

Deep within the blood of each of these proud South Texans one hears the voices from our past, from our ancestors. From the once proud Indians that worked the fields of the missions surrounding San Jose to the voices of our fathers and grandfathers, they call us to take their place, to march in their stead, they ask that we not fail them, so that all their brothers, past and future, can receive the honors they earned with their blood, toil and tears.

Late last night as we were celebrating the good news of our arrival into the Alamo City the mood changed to a somber tone as one of our leading organizers, Felix Rodriguez, learned of the passing of his beautiful sister. Felix, so close to his goal, had to leave to Houston to prepare his sister's transport to the Valley. Each of us this morning knows that the completion of this journey is for him and the many others that are no longer with us.

As we cross under I-10 my good friend State Representative Carlos Uresti joins our group. Carlos served as a Capatin in the Marine Corp. He has engaged the marchers in a series of marching chants. The veterans, as they have the entire journey, exchange banter about which military branch is better than the other.



The streets are lined with well wishers as the Hemisphere Tower appears to grow larger in our frontal view. The Valley is far behind us but not far from our minds.

(10:15 am) Our march is ahead of schedule so we have taken a rare break at Roosevelt Park. The police are still with us as are the representatives of the Mayor's Office. Our numbers have increased three fold as we pick up people along the route who have heard about our walk.

(11:15) We entered the King Williams District and spirits are high. We are again joined by former Congressman Ciro Rodriguez.





This post was dictated over the telephone.