We are proud to honor and recognize Hispanics and other veterans for their military service to this country. The Congress of the United States awards the Medal of Honor as its highest recognition of extraordinary valor and heroism in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service. The following Hispanic veterans who served in the Civil War were recipients of the Medal of Honor.

Bazaar, Philip	Seaman	USN
De Castra Joseph H.	Corporal	USA
Ortega, John	Seaman	USN

Major Alfred Rascon, U.S. Army, currently serving as an inspector general for the Selective Service System in Arlington, Virginia, and life member of Post 5, is a recipient of the Medal of Honor. But how he got it is a story in itself.

Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Rascon was the only son of parents who emigrated to the United States and worked as immigrant laborers north of Los Angeles. They lived in a small home in Oxnard. When he was seventeen, Rascon convinced his parents to let him join the Army. Even though he was not an American citizen, he felt like one.

During a battle in the Vietnamese jungle, Rascon, an Army medic at the time, threw his body several times over wounded soldiers to shield them from grenades and machine-gun fire without considering his own safety. Later in the struggle, despite being hit by shrapnel, bullets, and a grenade, he grabbed a machine gun enemy soldiers were about to use. That additional firepower helped the platoon fight off the enemy.

After the war, Rascon's actions were recognized by the Army's third-highest honor, the Silver Star. At an early '80s reunion, his platoon discovered he hadn't received the Medal of Honor as they had expected, ostensibly because of extensive paperwork being lost in the Army's bureaucracy. They immediately started a campaign to get Rascon the Medal of Honor, only to have the Pentagon turn down that nomination. After asking for the help of Representative Lane Evans (D-Illinois), an advocate for Vietnam veterans who lobbied President Clinton on their behalf, the Pentagon finally recognized Rascon's exceptional service.

President Clinton awarded Rascon the nation's highest honor at a ceremony held in February 2000. "We bestow this medal," the president said, "knowing that America would not have survived were it not for people like Alfred Rascon, who, generation after generation, have always renewed the extraordinary gift of freedom for their fellow citizens."