as Americans, can be very proud of the brave men and women
serving in our military. When we study the history of this great
nation, we find that we have always had such people protecting
us – from the very beginning. It seems that an individual who is
willing to fight and die to protect others has a unique quality
that is not always visible until the situation calls for it. In
World War II, people who were virtually uneducated and raised in
poverty performed many of these acts of heroism. Take, for
example, the story of Medal of Honor recipient Jose Mendoza
Lopez. was born in Mission, Texas, on July 10, 1910. When he was
still quite young his mother, Candida, moved young Jose to
Veracruz, Mexico, where she earned money working as a seamstress
to support herself and the child. Lopez spent most of his time
selling clothes that his mother made. Sadly, there was no
mention of the father in my research on Lopez. The boy was not
able to spend much time with his mother because she passed away
when he was only eight