HOUSTON — A mural honoring and celebrating the heroism of Army Staff Sergeant Macario García was unveiled Thursday in Houston’s East End.
García was the first Mexican national to receive the Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. military decoration, for his courage and bravery during World War II. He was also awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge for the U.S., as well as the medal of Mérito Militar in Mexico.
García and his family immigrated from Mexico to Sugar Land where they worked on farms and in fields. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and was wounded in action at Normandy in 1944. His heroism on the battlefield, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor, happened in 1945.
He returned home later that year and was discriminated against. His family says García was denied service at a restaurant because he was Hispanic. He actively objected to being treated as a second-class citizen after fighting and risking his life for the U.S. and was arrested.
He became a U.S. citizen in 1947 and servd as a counselor in the Veteran’s Administration for 25 years. Macario García died in 1972 in a car accident. He is buried at the National Cemetery in Houston.
UP Art Studio spent three years organizing, fundraising and developing this art project. The mural is along an exterior wall of Houston Fire Station #20, which is along S Sgt. Macario García Drive at Navigation Boulevard.
The mural is a proposed gift to the City of Houston. Once officially accepted as a gift by Houston City Council, the mural will then be maintained by the Houston Fire Department as part of the City of Houston’s Civic Art Collection.
The artist who created the mural, Mez Data, used spray paint to create it.
An Army Reserve Center in Houston and a middle school in Sugar Land are also named in García’s honor.