Children Heroes, Chapultepec
The Children heroesMexico has known many heroes through its long and checkered history.
Perhaps none have captured the imagination and stirred hearts to the degree that Los Niños Héroes has.
Photo Pixabay
In 1847, six brave young men fought valiantly for their country during the American-Mexican War. Tragically, they died defending their honor.
Ranging in age from 13 to 19, these military cadets are remembered today with reverence and national pride.
A large monument erected in their honor, Los Niños Héroes, stands proudly at the entrance to Chapultepec Park in Mexico City.
This historical monument is visited by thousands of Mexican citizens and foreign travelers every year.
the beginning
The Mexican-American War was in its final chapters when the Battle of Chapultepec took place.
The date was September 13, 1847, and American forces were advancing rapidly on Chapultepec Castle.
The general Antonio Lopez de Santa Annawho was in charge of the forces in Mexico City, recognized the strategic advantage that Chapultepec Hill had.
Geographically, its value was enormous as it positioned Mexico City protected on its west side from invaders.
Unfortunately, there were not enough resources available for his defense. Ascending to some 200 feet above the surrounding landscape, the site was naturally fortified.
However, the American forces far outnumbered their Mexican counterparts, both in manpower and gunpowder.
Many prominent Americans, such as Abraham Lincoln and John Quincy Adams, considered the war unfair and questioned the justification for the invasion.
In the years before the war, Chapultepec Castle had been used as Mexico’s military training academy.
As a result, when the war broke out, dozens of teenage cadets attended. The general Nicholas Bravo He commanded the forces stationed on the Chapultepec hill.
When it became apparent that the American forces were winning, he ordered his men, including the cadets, to fall back to safety.
Six young men, however, refused to relinquish their posts and bravely rejoined the superior forces of the Americans.
Their names were:
Juan de la Barrera.Juan Escutia.Francisco Márquez.Agustín Melgar.Fernando Montes de Oca.Vicente Suárez.
They died that day in September, defending their country. Their sacrifice has been engraved forever in the history of Mexico.
The Monument to the Children Heroes
The names of the six military cadets live today in Mexico. The streets bear his name, as do the schools and public squares.
Their faces have appeared on Mexican currency and even public transportation in Mexico City (Metro Niños Héroes) has been named in their honor.
When all was obviously lost and her tattered flag was destined to fall, 17-year-old Escutia proudly took it, wrapped herself in it, and jumped from the point of the castle.
The legend
According to legend, when the smoke cleared and the American commander was surveying the carnage around the old fort, he saw the body draped in the flag and saluted. Warriors respect patriotism.
Most Mexicans know about the war and what was lost and how the young cadets refused to run.
It’s an elementary school lesson. Children memorize the names. Streets, parks, schools and squares across the country keep them alive.
His images have been stamped and preserved with Mexican money.
Parents still take their children to see his monument in Chapultepec Park. I guess some will shed a tear. Los Niños Héroes are from a terrible time in the history of Mexico.
One thing is certain, all these young men died defending the honor of their country. The great monument of Los Niños Héroes is a tribute to their memory and sacrifice.
President Truman
Harry Truman He decided to visit Mexico in 1947, the first time a President of the United States had done so.
The crowds in Mexico City were the likes of which Truman had never experienced. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to see and cheer on an American president for the first time.
The trip had been Truman’s idea, and the acclaim was thrilling. He returned the “Hail!” of the crowds (one woman yelled, “Long live Missouri!”).
Several times he broke away from his Mexican and Secret Service escorts to shake people’s hands. «I have never received such a welcome in my life,» he told the Mexican legislature, to which he recommitted Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor policy.
To a crowd of US citizens later, he said he hoped they would remember that they too were ambassadors.
The next morning, he suddenly announced that he wanted to make an unscheduled stop at the historic Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City.
Where, with a simple and unexpected gesture, he did more to improve US-Mexican relations than any other president in a century. In a matter of hours, as word spread, he had become a hero.
The caravan
The Hero Children The long caravan stopped in the shade of an ancient grove. Truman got out of his black Lincoln and headed for a stone monument bearing the names of Los Niños Héroes.
«the child heroes», six teenage cadets who had died in the Mexican-American War in 1847, when American troops stormed the castle.
According to legend, five of the cadets had stabbed themselves, and a sixth jumped to their death from a breastwork rather than surrender.
As Truman approached, a contingent of blue-uniformed Mexican cadets stood their ground. As he placed a wreath at the foot of the monument, several of the cadets wept silently.
After bowing his head for a few minutes, Truman returned to the line of cars, where the Mexican drivers were already shaking hands with their American passengers.
The story created an immediate sensation in the city, filling eight-column newspapers, banner headlines. «Rendering Homage to the Heroes of ’47, Truman heals an old national wound forever,» read one. «Friendship started today,» said another.
The Solidarity
A taxi driver told an American journalist: «To think that the most powerful man in the world would come and apologize.»
He wanted to cry himself, the driver said. He quoted a prominent Mexican engineer: «One hundred years of misunderstandings and bitterness wiped out by one man in a minute. This is the best policy for the neighbors.»
President Truman, declared Mexican President Miguel Aleman, was «the new champion of solidarity and understanding among the American republics.»
When asked by American journalists why he had gone to the memorial, Truman said simply: «Brave men don’t belong to any country. I respect bravery wherever I see it.»
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