Racism deprived Latino WWI hero Marcelino Serna of the Medal of Honor. He deserves it, advocates say.
"Private Marcelino Serna did not receive the Medal of Honor due to him being a Mexican American and an immigrant,” a Latino civil rights group says.
Marcelino Serna, the first Mexican American soldier to receive the Distinguished Service Cross and one of the most decorated Texans of World War I.
Sept. 2, 2020, 10:44 AM PDT
By Suzanne Gamboa
SAN ANTONIO — In vintage photos, Marcelino Serna wears his World War I Army uniforms that are festooned with several of his battle medals.
But one medal is missing — the Medal of Honor — that should have been draped around his neck about a century ago, Latino advocates, legislators and historians said.
They’ve launched the latest effort to persuade the federal government to posthumously award Serna the medal, the nation’s highest honor for battlefield heroics, arguing it was denied because of racism and xenophobia.
“It clearly appears Private Marcelino Serna did not receive the Medal of Honor due to him being a Mexican American and an immigrant,” Lawrence Romo, national commander of the American GI Forum, a civil rights organization and federally chartered veterans group, wrote to the Army.
Texas' most decorated WWI soldier
Serna has been called the most decorated World War I soldier from Texas. He fought between April 6, 1917, and Nov. 11, 1918, despite being a Mexican immigrant and noncitizen.
Commander M.R. McKinney, Marcelino Serna, Diana Stopani, Mrs. M. Serna, and Major Bernard L. Mourlevat.
Courtesy Texas Historical Commission
There have been earlier petitions for him to be awarded the honor, but now the law mandates review of cases like his.
Last year, Congress ordered the Pentagon to review records of Latino, Black, Asian, Native American and Jewish World War I soldiers to determine if they were denied the Medal of Honor because of their race or religion and should be awarded the medal.
A similar review, ordered in 2002, was done for military personnel of later wars. In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded 24 veterans the medal, all but three posthumously. Many of those recipients were Latinos.
“There’s a lot of times in history when you can’t right a wrong, but this is an opportunity for us to right an obvious wrong,” said Romo, who was serving in the Obama administration when those medals were given.
Bravery omitted, medal denied
The military’s official citation for the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest battlefield honor, states that Serna singlehandedly charged and captured 24 German soldiers.
But other accounts give more thorough details of his heroism and cite more than one such successful solo mission.
The Texas Handbook Online describes his involvement in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, France. Serna went out alone, voluntarily, after 12 members of his unit were killed and used grenades to blast a machine gun site, killing six German soldiers and capturing eight others.
--------------------------Marcelino Serna--------------------------
Courtesy Texas Historical Commission
Two weeks later, in the Meuse-Argonne offensive he followed a sniper on a solitary scouting mission, tossed grenades and fired into a trench from different positions, killing 26 enemy soldiers and taking 26 more as prisoners. He refused to allow American soldiers to execute them in contradiction of the rules of war, according to the Texas Handbook Online.
He was hit by sniper fire in both legs Nov. 7, 1918, four days before the armistice agreement that ended the fighting. He died in 1992 and is buried in the Fort Bliss National Cemetery in El Paso.
"Private Marcelino Serna did not receive the Medal of Honor due to him being a Mexican American and an immigrant,” a Latino civil rights group says.
Marcelino Serna, the first Mexican American soldier to receive the Distinguished Service Cross and one of the most decorated Texans of World War I.
Sept. 2, 2020, 10:44 AM PDT
By Suzanne Gamboa
SAN ANTONIO — In vintage photos, Marcelino Serna wears his World War I Army uniforms that are festooned with several of his battle medals.
But one medal is missing — the Medal of Honor — that should have been draped around his neck about a century ago, Latino advocates, legislators and historians said.
They’ve launched the latest effort to persuade the federal government to posthumously award Serna the medal, the nation’s highest honor for battlefield heroics, arguing it was denied because of racism and xenophobia.
“It clearly appears Private Marcelino Serna did not receive the Medal of Honor due to him being a Mexican American and an immigrant,” Lawrence Romo, national commander of the American GI Forum, a civil rights organization and federally chartered veterans group, wrote to the Army.
Texas' most decorated WWI soldier
Serna has been called the most decorated World War I soldier from Texas. He fought between April 6, 1917, and Nov. 11, 1918, despite being a Mexican immigrant and noncitizen.
Commander M.R. McKinney, Marcelino Serna, Diana Stopani, Mrs. M. Serna, and Major Bernard L. Mourlevat.
Courtesy Texas Historical Commission
There have been earlier petitions for him to be awarded the honor, but now the law mandates review of cases like his.
Last year, Congress ordered the Pentagon to review records of Latino, Black, Asian, Native American and Jewish World War I soldiers to determine if they were denied the Medal of Honor because of their race or religion and should be awarded the medal.
A similar review, ordered in 2002, was done for military personnel of later wars. In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded 24 veterans the medal, all but three posthumously. Many of those recipients were Latinos.
“There’s a lot of times in history when you can’t right a wrong, but this is an opportunity for us to right an obvious wrong,” said Romo, who was serving in the Obama administration when those medals were given.
Bravery omitted, medal denied
The military’s official citation for the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest battlefield honor, states that Serna singlehandedly charged and captured 24 German soldiers.
But other accounts give more thorough details of his heroism and cite more than one such successful solo mission.
The Texas Handbook Online describes his involvement in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, France. Serna went out alone, voluntarily, after 12 members of his unit were killed and used grenades to blast a machine gun site, killing six German soldiers and capturing eight others.
--------------------------Marcelino Serna--------------------------
Courtesy Texas Historical Commission
Two weeks later, in the Meuse-Argonne offensive he followed a sniper on a solitary scouting mission, tossed grenades and fired into a trench from different positions, killing 26 enemy soldiers and taking 26 more as prisoners. He refused to allow American soldiers to execute them in contradiction of the rules of war, according to the Texas Handbook Online.
He was hit by sniper fire in both legs Nov. 7, 1918, four days before the armistice agreement that ended the fighting. He died in 1992 and is buried in the Fort Bliss National Cemetery in El Paso.
