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In Tribute To. . .
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In the tiny Texas border town of Redford on the evening of May 20th, a young Spanish American boy attended his herd of goats. He carried with him an old .22 caliber rifle used to scare off wild dogs. He was unaware of the four camoflauged U.S. Marines hiding in the bushes nearby. The Marines were on a surveillance mission during a military anti-narcotics operation along the border. Four professionals, with professional weapons and training, against a single, young goat herder. The stories about what happened conflict. The fact is that Hernandez was killed with a single bullet from a military assault rifle. Marine Cpl. Clemente Banuelos, who shot 18-year-old Esequiel Hernandez, said he opened fire only because Hernandez had already fired at the group and was about to do so again. Civilian investigators had said that the evidence contradicted the Marines' version of events. The dead boy's family said Esequiel was simply herding his goats, and that their son would never shoot at anyone. At least not intentionally --- four camoflauged Marines could appear to be wild dogs or wolves. A grand jury heard the evidence this past Thursday, August 14th, and declined to indict the U.S. Marine on murder charges. Presidio County District Attorney Albert Valadez later announced that no charges would be filed against Marine Cpl. Clemente Banuelos. Does the decision reflect the fact that this was a simple, poor Spanish boy who lived in a tiny border town in a remote location of our union? Think about it a minute, come on wake up for just a few seconds! Why didn't the Marines call out to the boy to identify themselves? Why didn't they fire a warning shot? Why didn't they do a million things differently? These individuals are supposed to be professionals. This boy was killed with one shot. This Marine, likely a professional marksman, lined the innocent goat herder up in his sites, squeezed off just one round, and as simple and cold as that, a life was gone. And, why did the grand jury decline to indict the Marine? Would the decision have been different if the boy who was killed had been of white heritage and from a wealthier family? How will history record this event? The blood is on all of our hands. Yes, our American creed, the glue that binds us all, is based on the principle of We, the people. . . Each of us are part of this tragic event. We, the people, pulled that trigger. We, the people, took a young, innocent boy's life in cold blood on the night of May 20th. Another life lost to the irresponsible War on Drugs being waged in this country. Prohibition will not work, history has already shown us this. Education is our only answer to responsible and clean living. Education programs would not have killed little Esequiel. It took a U.S. Marine's bullet, fired by each of us, to end his short life.
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