Staff Sergeant Marcario García also known as Macario García was the first Mexican immigrant to receive the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration. He received the award for his heroic actions as a soldier during World War II.
On November 27, 1944, García was an acting squad leader in his platoon, which found itself engaged in combat against the German troops in the vicinity of Grosshau, Germany. Realizing that his company could not advance because it was pinned down by enemy machine gun fire, Garcia, on his own initiative, went ahead alone, destroying two enemy emplacements and capturing four prisoners. Despite being wounded himself, he continued to fight on with his unit until the objective was taken.
Medal of Honor citation
Honors and discrimination
On August 23, 1945, the President of the United States, Harry S. Truman presented Staff Sergeant García with the Medal of Honor at a ceremony in the White House. A month after he was awarded the Medal of Honor, Garcia was denied service at a restaurant located in a town just a few miles south of Houston because he was Hispanic. Garcia was beaten with a bat by the owner. No one was arrested and no charges were initially filed. It was only after national columnist Walter Winchell reported the incident and labeled Sugar Land the most racist city in America that charges were filed—against Garcia. Then the incident was covered by the news media, and caused an uproar amongst the Hispanic community who rallied to his aid. The nation was made aware as to the discriminatory policies that Hispanics were subject to, as the case against Garcia was repeatedly postponed before being dropped.
Later years
García became an American citizen on June 25, 1947 and earned a high school diploma in 1951. On May 18, 1952, he married Alicia Reyes with whom he had three children. For twenty-five years he worked as a counselor in the Veterans' Administration. On the evening of November 21, 1963, Marcario García greeted President John F. Kennedy at the door of the Rice Ballroom in Houston Texas. The ballroom was filled with a diverse crowd of attendees that included Hispanic World War II veterans, Civil Rights advocates and future political activists. The president spoke of U.S. and Latin American Foreign Policy and the importance of recognition and acknowledgement of Hispanic organizations like the League of United Latin American Citizens. Speaking in fluent Spanish, Mrs. Kennedy offered words of inspiration and encouragement. The day after this meeting Kennedy was dead. García died on December 24, 1972, from the injuries which he received as a result of a car accident. He was buried with full military honors in the Houston National Cemetery in Houston, Texas. The local government of Houston honored his memory by naming a middle school after him as well as renaming part of 69th Street in Houston "S/SGT Marcario García Street". In 1983 Vice President George Bush dedicated Houston's new Macario García Army Reserve Center, and in 1994 Macario Garcia Middle School of the Fort Bend Independent School District, in unincorporatedFort Bend County, Texas, near Sugar Land, was named in García's honor.
Awards and recognitions
Staff Sergeant Marcario García's decorations and medals were the following:
