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Silvestre Santana Herrera (July 17, 1917 – November 26, 2007) was a Private First Class of the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Mertzwiller, France during World War II. After his one-man charge on an enemy stronghold resulted in the single-handed capture of eight enemy soldiers, his unit was attacked by a second across a minefield. Herrera again single-handedly took on the enemy, losing both his legs beneath the knees to mine explosions yet continuing to provide covering machine gun fire that allowed his comrades to overrun the enemy position in a flanking action clear of the minefield.〔(Medal of Honor citation )〕 Born in Mexico of Hispanic heritage, Herrera was the only living person authorized to wear both the Medal of Honor and Mexico's Order of Military Merit (First Class) at the time of his death.〔(Home of Heroes Profile )〕 A legend in the state of Arizona, he was honored by the city of Phoenix officially renaming the portion of 3rd Street that runs from Indian School Road North into the park, "S. Herrera Way". ==Early years== Herrera was born in the Mexican city of Camargo, Chihuahua, and not, as he believed until he was twenty-seven, in El Paso, Texas. His parents died in an influenza epidemic〔 when he was only a year old, and the man he had thought was his father was really an uncle who had brought the 18-month-old Herrera there to provide him with a better life in the United States.〔 Herrera worked as a farm hand, marrying and raising a family in El Paso before moving to Phoenix, Arizona with his American wife Ramona and three children, Mary, Elva, Silvestre, Jr. and his uncle. When the United States entered World War II Herrera was drafted into the Texas National Guard, 36th Division. Expecting yet another child, Herrera felt it would be important for his parents to be there for him while he was gone and so went to break the news.〔 That is when the man Herrera had believed to be his father gave him the stunning news of his Mexican birth, and said, "Son, you don't have to go, they can't draft you...you aren't an American citizen." Even in the face of these multiple shocks, and a perfect opportunity to dodge the war, Herrera was unswayed. As he later related, "I thought, I'm going anyway. I didn't want anybody to die in my place... I felt that I had my adopted country that had been so nice to me.〔 I thought, I have an American wife and the kids and one on the way." It was only the first of several life-changing acts of heroism Herrera would take.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Silvestre S. Herrera」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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