The American G.I. Forum
Corpus Christi, Nueces County, Texas
Marker Inscription
World War II provided Latino and Latina Americans with opportunities to fight for freedom around the world. Hundreds of thousands served in the U.S. Armed Forces, returning with hope and renewed idealism but often facing entrenched prejudice. While treating servicemen for the Veterans Administration in Corpus Christi, Texas-raised Dr. Hector Perez Garcia personally encountered discrimination against Mexican Americans. A decorated veteran who served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in Europe, Garcia vowed to improve conditions for the Mexican American community and its veterans. On March 26, 1948, approximately 700 Mexican American veterans met at the Mirabeau B. Lamar Elementary School auditorium and organized The American G.I. Forum. Later, the membership formed a women's auxiliary and a Junior G.I. Forum, reinforcing emphasis on the involvement of the entire family as an important concept in the group. A 1949 event raised the American G.I. Forum into the national consciousness. Private Felix Longoria served during the war and was killed in action in the Pacific. When the military repatriated his remains to Three Rivers (Live Oak Co.), a local funeral home denied his widow the use of its chapel for the wake. Dr. Garcia agreed to intercede on behalf of the family, and the "Longoria Affair" established the American G.I. Forum as a key Latino civil rights advocate. Founded to guarantee benefits for Mexican American veterans returning to Texas and help protect their rights, the organization grew to become a national leader in education, voting, and civil rights advocacy. Today, the forum continues to champion civil rights and provide Latinos with education, employment and housing assistance. Texas in World War II - 2008
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Mexican Americans served by the hundreds of thousands in World War II, only to return home to entrenched discrimination. In Corpus Christi, decorated Army veteran and physician Dr. Hector P. Garcia gathered some 700 fellow veterans in 1948 to found the American G.I. Forum, dedicated to securing the benefits and rights they had earned. When a Three Rivers funeral home refused services for a fallen soldier, Private Felix Longoria, the Forum's response — the 'Longoria Affair' — thrust it into national prominence as a leading Latino civil rights organization.
Why it matters
The American G.I. Forum turned the wartime service of Mexican American veterans into a nationwide civil rights movement, a cornerstone of the postwar struggle for Latino equality in education, voting, and public life.
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Related people
- · Hector Perez Garcia
- · Felix Longoria
Related events
- · Founding of the American G.I. Forum (1948)
- · Longoria Affair (1949)
Themes & tags
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