Page 131 - Images: We were...We are

grenade launcher on the enemy. The M-79 looks like a sort of oversized sawed-off
shotgun that fires grenades about 400 yards, but it can only fire one shot at a time,
and then must be opened and reloaded. Mendez was completely exposed while he
fired his powerful, but slow, weapon to give covering fire to his squad and the
trapped Marines.
As he stood there, his platoon commander, a lieutenant, was hit by the Viet
Cong's automatic weapons fire, and he fell seriously wounded and paralyzed.
Mendez raced through the bullets to rescue the lieutenant, shielding the officer with
his own body as he quickly applied a bandage to the wound. Then he picked up his
lieutenant and carried him toward the safety of the Marines' line. He was just about
60 feet short of his goal when he was hit in the shoulder, and fell.
Two Marines ran out to help, but Mendez insisted on remaining the rear man,
pushing the two other Marines who were carrying the lieutenant ahead of him, as
Mendez held the officer's legs. Mendez was still shielding his lieutenant when he
was hit by the bullet that killed him.
Mendez was posthumously promoted to sergeant, awarded the Purple Heart for
receiving wounds in battle, and then honored with the Navy Cross, the second
highest decoration in the Navy's gift, one rung below the Medal of Honor (the
Marine Corps, though often treated as its own branch of the military, is actually a
part of the Navy).
The lieutenant Mendez saved was eventually discharged due to the severity of
his injuries. He went on to lead a full life, though: Ronald Castille became district
attorney of Philadelphia and is now one of the seven justices of the Supreme Court
of Pennsylvania, most recently the subject of controversy for turning down the
appeal of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of killing a police officer.
Now Senator Charles Schumer, prompted by the men of the Island's Marine
Corps League detachment and Richichi, and supported by Castille, is calling for
Mendez to be recognized with the nation's highest honor.
"Thank God for Americans like Corporal Mendez," Schumer said. "One of our
nation's greatest assets is that in every generation we have men and women willing
to give of themselves and even risk their lives in the name of freedom, democracy
and justice. In sacrificing his own life to protect the life of his platoon commander,
Corporal Mendez not only protected American values, he exemplified them."
So, Schumer has written to the secretary of the Navy asking that his actions be
reviewed for a Medal of Honor citation. "A greater example of courage and sacrifice
than the act of heroism performed by Angel Mendez would be extremely difficult to
find," he wrote.
In the meantime, Angel Mendez has a new gravestone, one donated by Hall
Monuments and set into place by his three brothers, his sister, a rifle team and
color guard of Marine veterans, fellow Vietnam veterans and alumni of Mt. Loretto
who have never forgotten.
His stone is not far from that of Alex Santiago, the other Mt. Loretto alumnus

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