Texas war hero gets overdue accolade from President Obama One by one, two dozen soldiers and their surviving families stepped up to receive their nation’s highest military honor on Tuesday. President Obama said because they laid down their lives, the nation had been able to go on. Sgt. Candelario Garcia gave his soul, said his stepbrother, Manuel Flores of Grand Prairie. Growing up in Corsicana, Garcia rode bikes and played football with Flores. When the Vietnam conflict escalated, Garcia was drafted. Buried last year with military honors, Garcia’s career was marked by a battle in which he killed seven enemy soldiers and saved the lives of two colleagues. But it all took a toll on his own life. It’s one thing to shoot a rabbit or a deer, Flores said. But when you shoot people, that puts a whole other game in order there. Did it affect him? I think it did. While in Vietnam, Garcia began drinking heavily. After being discharged from the military, his mother often heard him crying. She would hear him crying, Flores said. He would be in his bedroom, in their house. Last year, the Medal of Honor winner died with severe liver disease… physically, just a husk of a man. Still, Monday was [...] newsintx/texas-war-hero-gets-overdue-accolade-from-president-obama-2/
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 21:30:40 +0000
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