Montini: Marine. Medal of Honor recipient. Non-citizen.
The first name cut into Row 2 of the black granite slab that is Panel 18W of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is “Jose F. Jimenez.”
That’s it.
It is the same with all of those who were lost in that war. Name after name after name.
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The heartbreaking, humbling, haunting memorial does not tell you that Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Francisco Jimenez, 23, known to his friends as “JoJo,” was killed in action on Aug. 28, 1969.
Or that he went to high school in Eloy.
Or that he is a Medal of Honor recipient.
Or that he was a … Mexican national.
'If anyone deserves it, he does'
On Jan. 17 Jimenez will be buried with full military honors at Glendale Memorial Park, next to his mother. For all these years he has been interred at a cemetery outside of Mexico City, near where he was born. His family has long wished for him to be beside his mother, who suffered so deeply when she received news of her boy’s death.
But the family didn’t quite have the resources to make the transfer happen.
That changed when their situation came to the attention of people like Steven Weintraub, a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
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“There is a kind of Marine Corps mafia in the Valley,” he said. “Active duty people, reservists, retired personnel, families. When we heard about JoJo we knew it was something we wanted to make happen. If anyone deserves it, he does. And his family does.”
In 1968, a few years after graduating from high school in Eloy, Jimenez enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
He didn’t need to do this. He was Mexican.
He wasn't American, but he felt like it
His mother and younger sister had moved to Arizona when he was a young boy. His mom worked for the Mexican government. But Jose remained in Mexico. He didn’t get to the United States until his teen years. But in those dark and turbulent days of the Vietnam War and the civil rights struggle and so on, he took to the place. He felt American.
“He loved this country,” his sister Pilar told me. “He believed that it had done many good things for me and my mother. And he had friends who were drafted, and some who enlisted. So he decided to join. He felt like he owed this country much.”
As it turns out, just the opposite is true.
It’s all of us who owe Jimenez. For his service. For his sacrifice. For reminding us – and perhaps certain of our leaders – of the value of immigrants. And for reminding us as well that even in a dark and contentious time we must not diminish our gratitude for being able to live in this place.
“When he is in Arizona, next to our mother, they will be at peace,” Pilar said. “We will all be at peace, knowing they are together and he is here, where he belongs. He deserves that.”
His country? You're damn right
The reasons are spelled out in his Medal of Honor citation, which reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Fire Team Leader with Company K, Third Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division in operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam on 28 August 1969. On that date Lance Corporal Jimenez' unit came under heavy attack by North Vietnamese Army, soldiers concealed in well-camouflaged, emplacements. Lance Corporal Jimenez reacted by seizing the initiative and plunging forward toward the enemy positions. He personally destroyed several enemy personnel and silenced an antiaircraft weapon. Shouting encouragement to his companions, Lance Corporal Jimenez continued his aggressive forward movement. He slowly maneuvered to within ten feet of hostile soldiers who were firing automatic weapons from a trench and, in the face of vicious enemy fire, destroyed the position. Although he was by now the target of concentrated fire from hostile gunners intent upon halting his assault, Lance Corporal Jimenez continued to press forward. As he moved to attack another enemy soldier, he was mortally wounded. Lance Corporal Jimenez' indomitable courage, aggressive fighting spirit and unfaltering devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.”
His country.
Damn right.
