Video: The more I marched, the angrier I became, says Vasquez

By Joey Gomez and Steve Taylor

SAN ANTONIO,  - America’s Last Patrol Post # 3 Commander Jose Maria Vasquez says the more steps he took on the Rio Grande Valley Veterans March the angrier he became.

In an exclusive video interview with the Guardian and its media partner KGBT Action 4 News outside the Audie Murphy VA hospital in San Antonio, a tired but resolute Vasquez fired off a number of questions.

“Why do we have to do this? Why do we have to march 260 miles? Why do we have to fight another war? A war to get our benefits that we rightfully deserve,” Vasquez said.

The six-day march, organized by the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America group, was designed to press the federal government and the VA to build a veterans hospital in the Valley. The nearest VA hospital is Audie Murphy. About 30 Valley veterans finished their march there on Saturday.

Video on YouTube here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YJ6DxGl1WI
 

Vasquez led a similar march in 2005. Since then the VA has expanded its outpatient clinics in Harlingen and McAllen, signed contracts with private hospitals so that veterans can receive inpatient and emergency care locally, and announced plans for an ambulatory center in Harlingen. Groundbreaking for this $40 million project will take place next month.

Vasquez said the VA would not have provided these facilities if Valley veterans had not marched and protested for the past four years. He said the various Valley veterans groups would continue to push for a hospital because other parts of the nation with smaller veteran populations have them.

“For 50 years we have been asking the question, pleading and begging, why? Why do we not have a hospital,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez said it cannot be the money, pointing out that construction of new VA facilities is currently underway in Colorado, in Florida, and in Las Vegas. He said some of those places they only have 85,000 veterans.

“We have 117,000 veterans in the Rio Grande Valley and across South Texas. Why do we not get a hospital? I guess I am angrier and angrier as each step that I took this week.”

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Vasquez said South Texas is being “maliciously neglected.” He said he only conclude that the Felix Longoria situation is at play. Longoria was a World War II hero who was denied a burial spot in his native Three Rivers, Texas, because, many believe, of the color of his skin. He ended up being buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.

“Because of the color of our skin, (it’s) the only thing I can think of. If you have any other theories, let us know,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez said Valley veterans are not asking, begging or pleading, they are demanding a hospital. “We will not stop,” he said.

Next week the Veterans Alliance of the Rio Grande Valley travels to Washington, D.C., to press its case for a VA hospital. The group points out that when Barack Obama was campaigning for president last year he pledged support for a VA hospital in the Valley.