They were young men – many still nursing years-old wounds of war – when they gathered at an elementary school 60 years ago today for their first meeting.

Some spoke of being bounced around from hospital to hospital while in need of medical care. Others said their GI Bill checks to go to school took four months to show up. One said going to school was useless because of the language barrier between Hispanics and teachers. Most complained of pension checks being cut.

In all, the grievances of nearly two dozen Hispanic veterans were heard at Lamar Elementary School on the evening of March 26, 1948.

At the end of the 30-minute meeting, which attracted about 400 veterans, the group’s organizers agreed on a name: The American GI Forum.

Earlier this month, Korean War veteran Oscar Guerra presided over the American GI Forum Dr. Hector P. Garcia Founding Chapter meeting in a side room of a local Mexican restaurant. Unlike descriptions of that first meeting six decades ago, this was a quiet meeting. The 10 members present – mostly older men – went over plans to celebrate the organization’s 60th anniversary: the ceremonial hats were ordered and other duties for the celebrations had been assigned.

There were no crowds complaining of mistreatment.

Talk to most members today, and they will be eager to discuss the past. They will invoke the name of the organization’s founder, Dr. Hector P. Garcia. They will mention his accomplishments through decades leading the organization, and they will recite his slogan: “Education is our freedom, and freedom should be everybody’s business.”

The past is a source of pride. The future a source of ideas – and questions. All agree education is still a major focus, with the Founding Chapter having given about $80,000 in scholarships from 1996 to 2003, according to State Chairwoman Patsy Vazquez-Contes, who is charge of a growing number of women’s chapters. And members make their voices heard on various local issues: the stated need for a regional veterans hospital, lawsuits against a community college and the recent defacement of a war memorial.

But discrimination – the fight against which served as the catalyst for the organization’s rise to prominence – is not as prevalent as it once was, members and non-members say.

“It’s kind of hard to pinpoint specific issues today,” said Founding Chapter treasurer Ron Garza. “It’s not as visible – we’re not tackling those huge issues like Brown v. the Board of Education. A lot of things have changed.”

There are the obvious changes, such as several additional local chapters forming since the group’s inception, Garcia’s death in 1996 and the fact that most of the members, by their own accounts, now are older – most veterans of either Vietnam, Korea or World War II.

Some also say that civil rights issues aren’t as blatant anymore, as opposed to the days when Garcia took on a Three Rivers funeral home that refused to host services for Hispanic World War II veteran Felix Longoria and when forum members fought for school desegregation.

“My impression is that the old causes just aren’t there,” said local political scientist Bob Bezdek. “Back then they were fighting for greater acceptance. They were successful at what they were pushing.”

Bezdek notes that along with veterans rights, civil rights and education issues, the push for more Hispanic political leaders also was an early goal that has been met.

“The demographics have switched,” Bezdek said. “Look at the Nueces County Courthouse. You have a dominance of Latino leaders.”

Some forum members, however, say while the issues may be less controversial, they are not lacking. Members say one is the hope for a veterans hospital in South Texas, the nearest one being the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital in San Antonio.

“Most of the time, people who need care are World War II veterans,” said Joe Ortiz, commander of the Johnny Canales International Chapter that serves both Corpus Christi and Robstown. “It takes a lot for an 85-year-old to have to drive up to San Antonio.”

Ortiz, who has made himself visible in recent years speaking out against Del Mar College administrators after several lawsuits were filed against the college, said needs are still there, if not so apparent. Other issues are divergent:

          • Ortiz said education spending statewide is insufficient.
          • Vazquez-Contes said the Corpus Christi dropout rate is a major problem.
          • Garza said tending to the needs of recent veterans should remain a top priority, adding that will be a focus of the Founding Chapter through the next two years.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi history professor and American GI Forum researcher Patrick Carroll said the organization, along with other veterans groups, now faces survival in a less patriotic period than during its World War II-era beginnings.

“A critical factor is public attention to patriotism,” said Carroll, author of “Felix Longoria’s Wake: Bereavement, Racism, and the Rise of Mexican-American Activism.” “Now we have an all-volunteer Army. There’s no draft. It’s almost like this kind of general apathy on the part of the broader public.”

In addition, local members have had to contend with internal issues. Garcia’s widow, Wanda Fusillo Garcia, as well as his daughter, Cecilia Garcia Akers, filed a lawsuit against the National Archives and Historical Foundation of the American GI Forum last year, requesting financial documents regarding the renovation of Garcia’s old Bright Street medical office.

In 2006, national forum officials suspended the Founding Chapter’s charter after chapter officials did not disclose financial documents. That suspension was lifted after two weeks, after a change in that chapter’s leadership, and the lawsuit is in mediation.

“Back then, (internal issues) did take away from primary goals and focuses,” Garza said. “Now that a lot of issues have been ironed out and everybody has gotten into their place, I think the chapters now are in position to be doing what they are supposed to be doing, which is fighting for veterans rights.”

Akers, a lifetime member of the American GI Forum who often attends events honoring her father’s work, said veterans issues have not changed much throughout the years.

“There are those who are chronically ill who need a veterans hospital,” she said. “And to help veterans just coming back – it’s a shock for veterans to come back and not be functional. I think the forum has a lot to do in that respect.”

Another pressing issue for the organization has been recruitment. Vazquez-Contes estimated between 6,000 and 7,000 people nationwide are current active members – with about 1,000 of those younger than 30.

“If you go to Kansas, Oklahoma or Colorado, you see a lot more young faces than you do here,” she said. “Why that is, I don’t know.”

Garza, one of the younger Founding Chapter members at 46, said the organization’s durability depends on how well issues are addressed and how civic-minded the current generation of young veterans is.

Gone may be the days of a room full of veterans addressing language barriers, large-scale inadequate treatment and pension checks being cut without explanation. But Garza thinks current issues – and global conflicts – may bring the group full circle, back to its roots of focusing on veterans rights.

“I think that’s what the GI Forum has evolved back into,” he said.

The American GI Forum is best known for championing veterans’ rights efforts to improve education . Here are some other causes the group took on through the decades:
Bracero program, 1959

The forum demands the nation’s bracero farm labor program allowing low-wage Mexican farm workers to work in the country to be ended, with Garcia calling it a “subterfuge for cheap labor.”
Garcia vs. Hackney, 1968

At a hunger hearing of the House Education and Labor Committee, Dr. Hector P. Garcia called for the firing of then-Welfare Commissioner Burton Hackney, who previously had said that Mexican-American malnutrition was more a result of ignorance than poverty.
Police harassment, 1969

The forum addresses what it calls harassment and abuse by law enforcement officers of Mexican-Americans, with Garcia telling the Senate Migratory Labor Subcommittee that it is the most serious problem faced by Mexican-Americans in the American Southwest. His depiction of Texas Rangers as fearsome for Mexican-Americans drew a surprised response from subcommittee chairman and future presidential candidate Walter Mondale, who afterward said “(The Texas Rangers’) function seems to be to keep Mexican-Americans in their place. Their record is a rather sordid one.”
Teacher-hiring discrimination, 1972

Garcia and the forum filed a complaint with several government agencies about the representation of Mexican-American teachers in the Corpus Christi Independent School District. Garcia said the percentage of Mexican-American teachers should match the 49 percent of Mexican-American students in the district.
Colonias, 1988

The forum, led by Garcia, tackle colonias – rural, unincorporated subdivisions – for their living conditions, at a time when 71,000 people in Texas lived without clean water and adequate sewer drainage. “This should not be going on in the United States in 1988,” Garcia said.
National Guard Discrimination, 1991

The forum’s investigation into mistreatment of Hispanic soldiers in the Texas National Guard prompts state and federal investigations that confirm many allegations.

Source: Caller-Times archives

Since the American GI Forum’s founding in 1948, hundreds of chapters have sprung up throughout the nation. The Coastal Bend chapters include the:
- Dr. Hector P. Garcia Founding Chapter
- Felix Longoria Chapter
- Johnny Canales International Chapter (Corpus Christi/Robstown)
- Richard Rocco Chapter
- Rockport Chapter
- Rockport Women’s Chapter
- Westport Women’s Chapter (Corpus Christi)
- Westport Youth Chapter
- Coastal Bend Women’s Chapter
- Beatrice T. Perez Women’s Chapter (Robstown)
- Dr. Clotilde P. Garcia Women’s Chapter
- Dr. Hector P. Garcia Flour Bluff Women’s Chapter

Source: Patsy Vazquez-Contes, American GI Forum State Chairwoman, District Commander Richard Dominguez
Contact Israel Saenz at 886-3767 or saenzi@caller.com