Mother of a hero awaits ceremony
By JOHN MORITZ
Star-Telegram staff writer
AUSTIN -- Dolia Gonzalez was hoping that this Veterans Day would be the one when Texas would present her only son with the hero's medal that he had paid for with his life nearly 40 years ago.
But at 78, Gonzalez says she doesn't mind waiting a little longer. She takes comfort in the fact that the son she lost on a Vietnam battlefield in February 1968 has not been forgotten. Not by his buddies in the service, not by his hometown in the Rio Grande Valley, not by Congress and not by his beloved Marine Corps.
So waiting for Texas to join the parade is no big deal, said Gonzalez, who works as a restaurant waitress and a grocery store greeter in her hometown of Edinburg.
"If I had my way, it would have been done by now," Gonzalez said Thursday in a phone interview. "But I understand that these things take time."
Her son, Marine Sgt. Alfredo "Freddie" Gonzalez, was awarded the Medal of Honor, the military's highest decoration for valor, for his role in repelling an enemy rocket attack during the pivotal Tet offensive. Under fire, he rescued a wounded Marine and led his platoon in taking out heavily fortified enemy positions. Gonzalez was killed while returning rocket fire from his position in a Catholic church.
He was 21 and serving his second tour in Vietnam at the time.
In Edinburg and surrounding communities, Gonzalez's bravery was celebrated. An elementary school and other public facilities were named for him. An American Legion post in a neighboring town bears his name. There's an Alfredo Gonzalez Boulevard at the Marines' Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and an Alfredo Gonzalez mess hall at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.
In 1996, the Navy commissioned the USS Gonzalez, a guided missile destroyer, and Dolia Gonzalez had the honor of cracking the champagne bottle against the bow.
During the 2007 legislative session, lawmakers made Gonzalez the sixth recipient of the Legislative Medal of Honor, saying the honor was long overdue and promising a ceremony befitting a Texas hero.
Nearly six months later, former Alvarado resident John Flores, author of a biography of Gonzalez titled, When the River Dreams, began raising questions about why the medal had not been presented to his mother. Flores, who learned about Gonzalez while working as a reporter for the McAllen Monitor, said many of his Marine comrades are hoping to attend the ceremony.
"I'm calling lawmakers, the governor -- and all I get is the run-around," said Flores, 49, who lives in Albuquerque, N.M. "Freddie's mother deserves to have that medal."
State Rep. Aaron Pena, D-Edinburg, and Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, who sponsored the resolution awarding the medal, said coordinating the schedules of all the dignitaries is proving to be challenging. Neither has been able to obtain a firm commitment from Gov. Rick Perry, who signed the measure into law June 15.
Krista Moody, Perry's spokeswoman, said the governor would like to attend any ceremony for Gonzalez, but nothing has been placed on his schedule.
"The medal was awarded [when the resolution was signed into law], but there's no deadline for having a ceremony," Moody said.
Dolia Gonzalez, who was a 16-year-old farm worker when her son was born, said she appreciates the effort made by others to keep her son's memory alive.
"He's with me every day," she said. "He's all I ever had."
John Moritz reports from the Star-Telegram's Austin bureau, 512-476-4294
There is absolutely no excuse for this. The session has been over for some time now. And where in the hell is Aaron Pena? Nothing is being done, because this happens to be about a mexican-american. So everything is on hold. I bet if it were some gringo this thing would have been done along time ago.
Leave it up to Aaron Pena and co to screw this up. It's one thing to file a bill. It's another thing to honor this man or his mother!
