Hero Street, U.S.A. symbolizes sacrifice of military’s Hispanic-American community

Published Aug. 28, 2009
By Rex Jones
21st Space Wing Equal Opportunity

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- A few years ago, my wife and our youngest son were invited to visit Augustana College. Our son was considering the possibility of enrolling there after high school. While there, we simply could not pass up the opportunity to visit a neighborhood that a friend had told us about during a Hispanic American Observance Luncheon - a neighborhood entirely dedicated to its fallen war heroes.

With this in mind, we made an honest effort to follow our MapQuest instructions to the best of our ability, yet we still had to stop for directions. It turns out, we weren't lost after all -- we were on the exact street we were looking for. We were confused because we mistakenly had bigger expectations. You see, it's not much of a street in size at all -- just one and a half blocks long. Its surface wasn't paved (at the time) and there were no large luxurious homes to grace its sides. There weren't any monuments but still they officially called this Hero Street, U.S.A.

Here in the tiny Midwestern town of Silvis, Ill., Hero Street has an amazing history and tradition to uphold - its name. It has earned the name with honor and with the blood of eight young men, all of Mexican descent, who tragically gave their lives for a country they felt was well worth dying for. It has been researched and documented by the Department of Defense that there is no other street of comparable size that has sent as many men and women to serve in the armed forces than this block of approximately 25 homes. Hero Street USA has sent more than 110 men and women into the military. Fifty-seven men joined during World War II and the Korean conflict and about 20 more to Vietnam. These eight men: Joseph Gomez, Peter Macias, Johnny Muños, Tony Pompa, Frank Sandoval, Joe Sandoval, William Sandoval and Claro Soliz, lost their lives in World War II and Korea. Now, a street remembers them in their honor.

When tallying the number of its residents who served in World War II and the Korean conflict the total came to 57 men (again, this doesn't include the Street's contribution to the Vietnam War or our most current conflicts). Of those 57, the two Sandoval families (not related) sent 13 - six from one and seven from the other. Three Sandoval boys were killed in action. These families not only believed in freedom, but sent their sons to fight for it. Many were not born in the United States, so they would not have to go to war. But go they did.

They all grew up together on this street, and it has been said that they were all uncommonly close. They were bound together by common heritage - this was the first generation of children raised in America by parents who had migrated here from Mexico years before. And, there were other bonds. They were all poor. Although their fathers worked long, exhausting hours for the railroad and made more money that they would ever have realized in their native town in Mexico, they were still poor. They roamed together over Billy Goat Hill, a small bluff rising from behind one side of the street. It was where they built bonfires, flew kites, dug caves and had mud fights. They hunted small game on the hills' scrubby sides and shared two precious .22 rifles among the bunch of them.

Today, there is in fact a fitting monument and park dedicated to these heroes. And, those visiting aren't likely to have the same initial reaction that my family and I had when I first saw Hero Street U.S.A. Regardless of one's reaction to this street, to those that live there, it is home! In a letter from Claro Soliz to Frank Sandoval he described it: "The Street is really not much, just mud and ruts, but right now to me it is the greatest street in the world."

You may not find yourself in Silvis, Ill., anytime soon; however, you can still pay your respects to those Hispanic Americans that have strengthened our country and contributed to the spirit of America. Please join me as Peterson prepares to celebrate the rich cultural traditions of our own Hispanic-American community.