Commander's
Report, April 1998Commander's
Report, April 1998Estimados Forumeers:
This year marks a special time for all brother and sister Forumeers. With the beginning of the new year, we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the American GI Forum, the largest Mexican American/Chicano/Latino family veterans organization in the United States
The American GI Forum was founded on March 26, 1948, in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the honorable and late Dr. Hector Perez Garcia. Dr. Garcia was a man for all seasons. He was a devoted father of a fine and accomplished family, a concerned citizen, dedicated physician, beloved humanitarian, and the most prominent Mexican American civil rights leader to emerge in the United States immediately after World War II.
Throughout his life, Dr. Garcia worked for change from within. He forged alliances with elected officials and mobilized voters on election day. Such was the case in the presidential election of 1960, when he formed VIVA KENNEDY clubs and helped deliver the Mexican American vote for the Democratic nominee.
I recall at every national convention that our founder's message to all Forumeers was to go back to your respective communities and become involved in eliminating racism and discrimination at every level, whether it be social, economic, or political. Dr. Garcia warned us ten years ago of the racist legislation and Mexican bashing that we have today.
Dr. Garcia left us a legacy that will live forever in every Mexican American/Chicano/Latino community, and which will never be forgotten by thousands of our brothers and sisters who fought and died fighting against racist regimes in the Pacific and European Theaters in the 1940's, only to return to their homes to continue fighting racism in their doorsteps. Fifty years later, we are still fighting subtle vestiges of the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's at the home front.