Marcelino Serna, Latino WWI Veteran, Gets Texas Legislative Medal of Honor, After He Faced Discrimination
Marcelino Serna is remembered as Texas’ most-decorated World War I veteran. Serna was the first Latino man to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and was awarded more than 10 other awards for his bravery and service in the Battles of St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne. But he never received the most prestigious military award: The Medal of Honor. Latino advocates are petitioning the U.S. Army and federal government to posthumously award Serna the Medal of Honor, arguing that he was denied the award because he was a Mexican immigrant. “That Private Serna served during a time of extreme prejudice cannot and must not erase his acts of immense bravery and devotion to the United States,” wrote the Mexican American Legislative Caucus of Texas in a letter to the U.S. Army, ...
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