The Ghosts of Hero Street: How One Small Mexican-American Community Gave So Much in World War II and Korea - Paperback

by Carlos Harrison (Author)

"A wonderful American story of the extraordinary sacrifices made by a group of Mexican Americans . . . A shining example of patriotism at its best."--Former U.S. Representative Tom Railsback

They came from one street, but death found them in many places. . . in a distant jungle, a frozen forest, and trapped in the flaming wreckage of a bomber blown from the sky. They all came from a single street in Silvis, Illinois, a dirt road barely a block and a half long, with an unparalleled history.

The Mexican-American families who lived on that one street sent fifty-seven of their children to fight in World War II and Korea--more than any other place that size anywhere in the country. Eight of those children died. It's a distinction recognized by the Department of Defense, one that earned that strip a distinguished name: Hero Street.

This is the story of those brave men and their families, how they fought both in battle and to be accepted in a society that remained biased against them even after they returned home as heroes. Based on interviews with relatives, friends, and soldiers who served alongside the men, as well as personal letters and photographs, The Ghosts of Hero Street is the compelling and inspiring account of a street of soldiers--and men--who would not be denied their dignity or their honor.

INCLUDES PHOTOS

Author Biography

Carlos Harrison is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, editor, and writer of more than a dozen books available in English and Spanish. A former reporter for Miami's NBC affiliate and a national and international correspondent for the Fox News Channel, Harrison has optioned multiple screenplays, written two award-winning television documentaries, and published hundreds of newspaper articles and magazine pieces in a wide variety of media, from the Huffington Post and Southern Living to a number of travel, celebrity, and business publications. As a reporter for the Miami Herald, Harrison shared the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News, covering the arrest of Yahweh Ben Yahweh, a national religious cult leader accused of ordering the murder of one of his followers.