Silvestre Herrera was born in Mexico in 1917. Both his parents died in the 1918 global flu epidemic. When he was 18 months old, an uncle took him to Texas, and raised him there. Herrera became a farmhand, married, and had three children, with another on the way when World War 2 broke out. That’s when he found out his uncle wasn’t his father and he wasn’t an American citizen. When he was drafted into the Texas National Guard, his uncle told him he didn’t have to go.
But Herrera had never known any other country and felt obligated to serve. His unit was initially sent to Italy, and by March 1945, was in France. As his platoon advanced along a road, they came under a crossfire from two German machine gun nests. Herrera charged the first one alone, firing from the hip and throwing grenades, and took 8 German prisoners. Then he advanced single-handedly across a minefield toward the second enemy position, and even though both his feet were blown off, provided covering fire while the rest of his platoon went around the minefield and captured the enemy position.
For his actions, Herrera was awarded the Medal of Honor, and eventually, U.S. citizenship. A living legend in Phoenix for many years, he died in 2007.