Meet CSM Homero Garza
Someone sent us a link to the Killeen Daily Herald about this fellow, Homero Garza who lives in the vicinity of Fort Hood, Texas. His story did sound too good to be true at first. He claims that he was in the Korean War and then went on to Vietnam. That he had two Silver Star Medals, two Bronze Star Medals, both with a “V” for valor, and ARCOM with a “V”.
So we ordered his FOIA and it all turns out to be true. I’m sure there’s some embellishment in the story he told to the reporter, but he’s too much of a real bad ass for me to disagree with him. But here are the citations of his awards. It looks like 1968 was a tough year for First Sergeant Garza;
It’s just refreshing to read about a real hero, especially from the Vietnam generation. It looks like CSM Garza retired the year before I joined, so I never had the pleasure. I wish I had.
Category: Real Soldiers
Awe-inspiring. Would that we could all find the strength and will to do the same.
Amen.
Absolute bad ass……props to you 1SG Garza.
That there is some mighty fine soldierin’.
So that’s what a REAL commendation certificate looks like.
This is one tough dude.
Of course he was with Arty, they were the only unit with the ability to lug his massive balls around. I can’t help but think of that old Army commercial that had the boot look up and say “Mornin 1st Sgt”. We used to scream that to a 1stSgt Layne in the morining. (From a distance, his monobrow would go into spasms.)
This is the kinda guy that gives you a reason to party with Arty.
Of course he is from Texas.
Its is sad that because of all the stollen valor a$$wipes, that when a true hero’s story comes to light, the first thing we do is think it can’t be true. Awe insiring citations and record.
True, but otherwise we might not find out about the true heroes among us.
He barely missed being in WWII. Damned fine Soldier.
Always nice to see a real Hero featured. I also agree its ashamed that such men must be vetted via FOIA for their stories to be believed.
Dude
Strait Up
Great Jonn. So nice to see a real hero on here and not some fake. Wish I could meet him.
I hope that some of the units at Ft. Hood have invited CSM Garza come visit and talk about what it takes to be a good soldier… they’re are too many of his generation left.
Brass balls, it looks like he had a good CO who appreciated his leadership and looked out for him.
Standing in a smoking crater made by a mortar to do crater analysis while the same mortar is dropping rounds takes cahones.
My old Platoon Sergeant did that. he later complained about the subsequent incoming mortars blowing the buttons off of his GPS. While he was standing in the crater.
Leadership, knowledge, experience, courage and determination. Awesome combination CSM.
The Army is in the process of releasing fine hard corps warriors with combat experience such as CSM Garza.
But they’ll have snappy new fatigues, maybe a new pistol, a whole new battalion of gays/transsexuals and women rangers to replace them.
Don’t forget the plaques they’ll get to see for the Pentagon echelons above reality “leaders” too.
This gets even more interesting. Ol’ Poe thought that name sounded familiar so he checked Wikipedia where he found that back in 2000, a retired CSM named Homer Garza had assisted investigators in the investigation into the alleged 1950 shootings of civilians at No-Gun-Ri in Korea by the 2d of the 7th Cav.
CSM Garza served in the Korean War and the name/rank combo is unusual enough to warrant a possible connection.
Interestingly enough, guess who else figures prominently in the investigation? None other than our own favorite chicken colonel and military historian, COL Robert Bateman. Small world, huh?
Hondo, do I get a double Attaboy for this two-fer?
Please, PT – get the man’s rank correct. It’s “LTC” Robert Bateman. And I believe he’s now retired, so it will likely stay that way in perpetuity.
You get one attaboy for the research, and one awsh!t for the unauthorized promotion. (smile)
Aw Shit is right, Hondo.
Hey, give an old geezer a break, huh?
There’s a full bird Colonel Robert Bateman out there, too, he shouldn’t be confused with Esquire’s boy.
Correct. He received the title “Colonel” for work with the NY Guard (not the NY ARNG or ANG); he’s a former LEO and Treasury Department employee. He now appears to work for Alliance Defense Marketing.
NOT the same guy as Toolus Maximus, AKA LTC Robert Bateman, US Army (Ret)(thankfully).
Badass doesn’t begin to describe this man.
Like my First Sergeant when I got to Alaska in 74, he had all kinds of things that I don’t remember on his uniform.
My Squad Leader had a Silver Star with a V on it if I remember right.
I truly served in the company of heroes, and for that I am proud to be a part of the brotherhood.
I don’t believe the Silver Star is awarded with a V.
According Kerry’s DD214 released back in 2004 it is. (smile)
Ha
Steel-balled BADASS!
Looks like another method is now being used to expound on the awards and decorations conferred to one man that have absolutely nothing to do with the theme of the thread.
The exact same comment that was posted to the “Air Force wants a Medal of Honor Recipient” (September 3, at 6:41 am) has been posted onto this thread now as a Facebook comment.
I, for one, am getting tired of seeing the same old things being posted time and time again. Especially when they are being used as “Hey, look at me. Here’s what I’ve done” and really have nothing to do with the subject at hand.
I am going camping tomorrow.
Haha sorry couldn’t help it.
When you have so many valor awards you probably forget and confuse what each one was for, you are a badass.
Being an E-8 or E-9 in Vietnam was not easy. The Army’s Senior NCO Corps was stretched thin due to the constant drawbacks prior to the war, so when Vietnam actually kicked off, the Army promoted a lot of E-6s and E-7s up who weren’t ready in order to fill those jobs.
Not to mention all the draftees you had to put up with and the unpopularity of the war.
I’m not exactly understanding what you are trying to say in your first paragraph, but it does not appear that 1SG/CSM Garza was one of those Senior NCO’s that you think got promoted too fast.
Second paragraph: Unpopular war? Yes for some, mostly all civilian and and some disgruntled service members, but by and large what the general feeling was in the states did not effect the day to day conduct of our armed forces in country.
“Not to mention all the draftees you had to put up with”— I don’t know what your experience is/was with drafted individuals, but my experience with them was that each and every one of them that I knew were straight stand-up soldiers. They were no better or worse than volunteer soldiers. Even the very last of the draftees I knew who completed their two years of service in 1975 long after our troops had withdrawn from Vietnam were good soldiers. In certain circumstances I would take a drafted soldier over a “volunteer” any day.
So, yes, I will stand up for drafted soldiers when it appears that some disrespect has been directed towards them.
If I’m not Mistaken about 2/3rds of the Men in Vietnam were not Draftees.
As far as SNCOs I know the Marines took some of the best and commisioned them to fill field grade officer billets. I think Wesley Fox, who recieved the medal of Honor as a 1st Lt was a 1st Sgt prior to his commisioning. He retired as a Colonel.
Less than 40% of draftees served in Vietnam. There were 1.7 million total draftees during the entire Vietnam era. 2.6 million troops served in Vietnam, only about 646,000 were draftees. 17,000 of the 58,000 names on the Wall were draftees.
Mark…..I was one of those draftees you had to put up with! I was a 11B beat the bush and flew as a doorgunner with the Air Cav in Vietnam.
I was a damn good troop! I might add I made E-5 Sgt. In sixteen months!
Just sayin
Top of the evening to ya, 3/17. How are things going out your way? You doing OK and staying out of the fire lanes?
Claw…..things are good! I took the battery out of the Mule today. Got it on the charger right now. I spent a few days fishing with a buddy of mine. Canned the fish. Also canned some peaches and pears with the neighbor gal. She’s a cutie and SINGLE!
That draftee bullshit really gets me going. I get real tired of hearing what shitty troops we were.
Great!! Glad to hear you’re doing well and hoping the canning (if that’s what the new buzzword for canoodling is/smile) is going well.
Yeah, me too on the draftee stuff. Some people hear the word, or read something somewhere and automatically assume they were some kind of a second class citizen. In actuality nothing could be further from the truth. Bad soldiers are a direct reflection of bad/ineffective leadership.
Being a mere shore duty puke, I saw both draftees and volunteers and the majority (98%)of the draftees I saw and worked with were NOT slackers or goldbrickers. Some of them were sailors, some were Marines. None were jerks.
On the other hand, some lifer sailors were the laziest things on the planet. They made PO1 or CPO and copped a squat. I saw both sides of it, including one draftee doctor at Philly RMC who decided in his last few months to wear love beads and let his hippie side come forth.
My old man was a draftee and ended up as an MP at Ft Hood, where I was born in Darnell Army Hospital. Calling out draftees is absolute BS. I am so proud, that when my dad’s number came up, no grumbling no complaints….he showed up where he was asked to go, busted his ass to be a good soldier, husband and new dad….did his time honorably and then brought us home to NYC.
True, but irrelevant. What you describe (people being promoted fast – in some cases, too fast) occurs in every major expansion of the military. It was in no way unique to Vietnam. It occurred in the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, and the GWOT. Desert Shield/Desert Storm is probably the only major war the US has fought in the past 150+ years that was truly a “come as you are” war.
The gratuitous insult towards Vietnam draftees was also unnecessary. Draftees provided a large amount of the manpower for World War I, II, Korea, and Vietnam. It was the “nature of the beast” at the time. However, as pointed out above, only a bit over 1/4 of the troops who served in Vietnam were draftees (the proportion was a bit higher – around 1/3, if I recall correctly – in combat units). Not positive, but I believe that is consistent with or lower than the numbers from previous major major wars.
We had a 1st Sgt in my Bn ( He was in Fox Battery 2/10) that was awarded the Navy Cross in Vietnam. He was batshit crazy. I remember when he first got to the Battery he did a personnel inspection. If a Marine had an unservicable item he made them remove it. There were guys standing there with no covers, no Field jackets, no boots.. even no trousers.. just long john bottoms… It was November in N.C. I don’t remember how lkong he stayed there..I think he retired or was transferred pretty quick… Here’s his Navy Cross Citation, The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Private First Class Alvin S. LaPointe (MCSN: 2083443), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism as a rifleman in Company C, First Battalion, Seventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in Quang Ngai Province, Republic of Vietnam, on 28 March 1966. While engaged in a search and destroy operation against communist insurgent forces, Private LaPointe’s platoon came under an intense volume of well aimed automatic weapons fire. While engaged in vicious hand-to-hand combat, Private LaPointe observed an enemy anti-aircraft weapon raking his squad with a murderous volume of accurate fire. Facing almost certain death, he heroically crawled across the fire swept slope toward the enemy bunker armed only with his bayonet and hand grenades. Within ten feet of the emplacement, he fearlessly and aggressively leaped into the position and, landing astride the gun, stabbed and killed the gunner. Seeing his comrade killed, the second Viet Cong fled into a tunnel within the position. Courageous and oblivious to the imminent danger, Private LaPointe unhesitatingly followed and killed him. Through his extraordinary initiative and inspiring valor in the face of almost certain death, he saved his comrades from injury and possible loss of life and enabled the platoon to seize and hold the vital enemy position. By his personal bravery, indomitable fighting spirit and devotion to duty, Private LaPointe reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the… Read more »
Looking at CSM Garza’s 2-1, he served his last tour in Germany in an area and with a unit that I was very familiar with.
The unit (3/67 ADA) was the Third Infantry Division’s Chaparral/Vulcan Air Defense Artillery Battalion and was stationed (at that time) on Giebelstadt Army Airfield somewhat close to Kitzingen. Gieb AAF was one of those little known paradise locations that you only hear rumors of and wish you could be stationed there.
From all I have read here, I too wish I would have had the pleasure and honor to have known him. May he live out a long life in peace and harmony.