Fires Center celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

By Jeff Crawley, Fort Sill CannoneerOctober 2, 2014

Dance
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Jasmine Gonzalez with dance partner Staff Sgt. Danny Gonzalez and Nicole Grigler and John Ortiz heat up the dance floor during the Fort Sill National Hispanic Heritage Month luncheon Sept. 25, 2014, at the Patriot Club. Audience members were inv... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Dave Lopez
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Dave Lopez, former Oklahoma secretary of commerce, was the guest speaker at the Fort Sill National Hispanic Heritage Month luncheon Sept. 25, at the Patriot Club. He spoke about family, the growth of Hispanics, and about a Hispanic Oklahoman, who was... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Bongo man
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. (Oct. 2, 2014) -- "This is the one country on Earth that I know where we can have both the richness of different cultures and the strength of a unified purpose."

Those were the words of Dave Lopez, age 63, former Oklahoma secretary of commerce, who was the guest speaker at the Fort Sill National Hispanic Heritage Month luncheon Sept. 25, at the Patriot Club.

Lopez spoke about family, work ethics, the growth of Hispanics, and about Pfc. Manuel Pérez Jr., a Hispanic Oklahoman, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery during World War II.

The annual commemoration was co-sponsored by the Installation Equal Employment Opportunity Office and the 30th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. It was hosted by Brig. Gen. Christopher Spillman, ADA School commandant and chief of ADA, on behalf of the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill commanding general.

This year's theme is "Hispanics: A legacy of history, a present of action and future of success." The commemoration runs Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.

The 77th Army Band's Salsa band performed several high-energy songs which got audience members dancing to merengue and cha-cha tunes.

Col. Jim Payne, 30th ADA Brigade commander, introduced Lopez. Payne himself grew up in Canutillo, Texas, where 99 percent of the population was Hispanic.

"While this town was not affluent or wealthy, I would describe it as fiercely proud, where family, friendship and loyalty is matched only by its incredible work ethic and willingness to stand up and fight for your beliefs," Payne said.

Lopez said his father, who was a World War II veteran, had only completed the seventh grade when he dropped out of school to go to work. His mother dropped out as a sophomore after her mother died, so she could become the substitute mother for the family.

His parents worked hard, at one point his father held three jobs, to put their children through private Catholic schools.

"That tuition was their investment in our future," said Lopez, who served as interim superintendent of Oklahoma City public school system.

He noted the he and his four brothers all earned college degrees: four with master's degrees and one with a Ph.D. "That all happened in one generation."

Hispanics are the largest minority in the United States, numbering 54 million, Lopez said. They are also a young group. In the OKC public school system, Hispanics are the majority in the state's largest school district. And, Hispanics who are graduating high school are going to college in larger numbers than any other group.

But the number Lopez focused on was 1. Of the 61 Hispanic Medal of Honor recipients, one was from Oklahoma, Manuel Pérez, a Mexican-American who was born in Oklahoma City.

Pérez single-handedly neutralized a Japanese machinegun pillbox by killing 18 of the enemy during the Battle of Luzon in the Philippines. Much of it was in close quarters where he bayoneted Japanese soldiers and fought them with the butt of his rifle. He survived the battle Feb. 13, 1945, only to be killed 29 days later in combat. He was 22.

"Pfc. Pérez reminds us almost 70 years later, that the richness of our nation is not in our differences, but in our unity," Lopez said. "The blood that pours through the veins of Pfc. Pérez may of had its origin in Hispanic parents, but the blood and life Manuel Pérez left in the Philippines in 1945, was 100 percent American."

Spillman thanked Lopez and presented him with a Fires Center of Excellence pen set.