Following is a review of Hero Street U.S.A. published in the Sept. 20, 2010 magazine, “The Hispanic Outlook.”
By Rosie Carbo
Hero Street, U.S.A., by Marc Wilson. Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press. 224 pages. ISBN 978-0-8061-4012-4. $19.95 cloth.
In the midst of a national debate about the impact of undocumented immigrants and their children on U.S. society, a compelling book reveals for the first time the untold social and military history of one immigrant group.
In Hero Street, U.S.A., Marc Wilson tells the poignant saga of Mexican-American immigrants and the children born or reared on unpaved Second Street in Silvis, Ill. Nearly 80 young men from three-dozen homes here fought in World War II and Korea.
This is the moving story of eight of the unsung heroes who died in the two
wars: Joseph Gòmez, Willie Sandoval, Tony Pompa, Claro Solìs, Peter Masias, Johnny Muños and brothers Joseph and Frank Sandoval.
This is not just another chronicle about fallen soldiers; it’s a sincere effort to right the wrongs regarding the lack of recognition – in American history, documentaries and Hollywood movies – of Mexican-Americans who fought for the United States.
Hero is an ode to Mexican-American troops who earned this nation’s highest honors, including the Gold Star and Purple Heart, only to return to face discrimination – from a Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter to other elements of American society.
Silvis’ Second Street became “Little Mexico” when the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, which had recruited Mexicans to work there in the early 1900s, settled them on a 900-acre railway site in rundown wheel-less red boxcars.
Yet despite abject poverty, including lack of electricity, running water and indoor bathrooms, those who died and the surviving veterans dreamed of being full-fledged Americans. But even for immigrants with green cards, discrimination was the norm in Illinois, in housing and throughout public places.
In 1971, Second Street was officially renamed Hero Street to commemorate the street’s many casualties. The dedication of Hero Street Park was in 1969, under President Lyndon Johnson and with the help of the American GI Forum. The paving of Second Street followed, but only after a lengthy battle with Silvis city officials.
Wilson’s gripping saga includes a detailed historical account of the 1910-1920 Mexican Revolution, a bloody conflict that sparked the first massive exodus of Mexican to the U.S.
Wilson spent countless hours interviewing Mexican-American war veterans and family members of the deceased soldiers, and traveled to Mexico to trace the journey immigrant parents had made to Illinois by train through five states in 1917.
The story unfolds in May 1945 with a chapter titled “Angelina’s Anguish.”
Readers are riveted to attention by a Western Union messenger on a bicycle heading for Second Street.
Eduvigues and Angelina Sandoval lost Private First Class Frank Sandoval in June 1944 in North Burma. Now the news is that Private First Class Joseph Sandoval, another son, is missing in action in Germany. The couple is devastated, and the reader feels for both.
Second Street residents assert that their neighborhood had the highest per-capita casualty rate of any neighborhood during World War II. This astounding fact is one reason Wilson was inspired to write the book.
A veteran journalist, reporter, bureau chief and news executive with the Associated Press, Wilson always had a passion for history. So when he and his wife moved within a few blocks of Hero Street, he began visiting the site.
Images of Mexican-American soldiers on the Hero Street monument piqued Wilson’s interest. Years of editing, writing and reading historical novels had taught him to dig deeper. To that end, Wilson began his 10-year quest to bring recognition to the eight Mexican-American soldiers who had died in combat. Hero includes vintage black-and-white photos of each soldier who died defending this country. It includes photos of parents and siblings.
“Research and writing this book was a real eye-opener for me. Like so many Americans, I didn’t know about the contributions of Mexican immigrants in building our railroads. I didn’t know about their contributions in defense of our country either. So I think this story needed to be told,” he said.
In June, Latino Literacy Now named Hero the best nonfiction historical/political book of the year. Hero is available at bookstores nationwide and online. Because of its extraordinary contribution to American history, this book should be required reading in schools and colleges nationwide.
Rosie Carbo is a Texas freelance journalist and graduate of the University of North Texas. Here articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines nationwide.
In May 1973, historian Robert Athearn asked Marc Wilson to lunch. Graduation at the University of Colorado was two days away. Wilson had taken many of Athearn's classes, including two semesters of a graduate level course on American Frontier History. Athearn -- a noted author and professor -- had some advice for Wilson, a graduating senior. "Don't become a journalist," Athearn told Wilson, "become a historian." Wilson -- who already had a job lined up with the Associated Press -- ignored Athearn's advice. But he never forgot it. When he moved to Illinois many years later, Wilson began research into Hero Street U.S.A. After eight years of work, the University of Oklahoma Press published Hero Street U.S.A. "Dr. Athearn gave me good advice, but I ignored it. This book gave me a chance -- a second chance, really -- to follow Dr. Athearn's advice.
