I seldom read the LA Daily Gazette unless a particular article is brought to my attention. Such was the case this past Monday. Enjoying my "nooner" coffee break at the inn, a lady passed by and handed me a section of the Monday paper, her only remark was "Stan you need to read this". Although, I do not know who she was, but I am thankful that she brought the article to my attention. In recent years, the term "hero" has become a buzz word in both the printed and electronic media and most often does not reflect true act of heroism.
Silvestre Herrera, age 90, passed away on Monday at his home in Glendale, Arizona. You most likely have never heard mention of his name, he was just another man that you may see on the street or standing in front of you at the check out isle of the local grocery store. Although, he had artificial legs, most likely a lot of children took note and would remark to their parents, "why doesn't that man have real legs and feet", the parent quieting the child and distracting them to look the other way. It is sad that they perhaps never knew the real story about the man with no feet. The story of Mr. Herrera intrigue me enough that when I returned home, I spent some time in researching and verifying his story on the Internet. The article as it was written by a reporter from the Las Angles Times was accurate.
Silvestre Herrera was a Private First Class with the 142nd Infantry Regiment of the 36th Infantry Division. Private Herrera and his fellow platoon members were advancing along a wooded road near Mertzwiller, France on March 15, 1945, when they were stopped by heavy machine gun fire. As the rest of the platoon took cover, Herrera charged the enemy position by himself, firing his semi automatic M1 rifle from the hip as he ran forward, he then tossed two hand grenades into the machine gun emplacement causing eight of the enemy soldiers to throw down their weapons and surrender.
A short while later, he would attack yet a second machine gun emplacement, this one set up beyond an extensive "mine" field. Knowing of the mine field, Herrera used a 2 x 4 board to pushed ahead of him during his charge, however, this proved to cumbersome and slowed his progress so he discarded the board and charged the emplacement. As he neared it, he stepped on one mine and then another, the explosion blew off both his feet. "Despite intense pain and unchecked loss of blood, he pinned down the enemy with accurate rifle fire while a friendly squad captured the enemy gun by skirting the minefield and rushing in from the flank" as noted in the citation that that accompanied the awarding of the Medal of Honor.
President Truman presented him with the nation's highest award for military valor during a ceremony at the White House in August 1945. Of the 464 Medal of Honor recipients during World War II, there are only thirty two still alive.
At the time he entered the military service, he was a father of three children and expecting a fourth, he was working as a mechanic in Phoenix, Arizona. Private Herrera did not have to go to war. Silvestre Herrera was a Mexican National, not a citizen of the United States. When asked why he went to war, it is reported that he said, "I didn't want anybody to die in my place", adding that he felt he owed something to "my adopted country that had been so nice to me".
For his heroic actions, Private Herrera was also received Mexico's highest medal for valor which was awarded to him because he was still a Mexican citizen when he was fighting in Europe. He is the only person to have been awarded both of these medals. His story deserves to be told, he was a Hero.
President Truman With Private Herrera
