Angel-Approved: Hispanic American Veterans Memorial
Bell Gardens, California
Bronze and 20 feet high, the Bell Gardens' Hispanic American Veterans Memorial was designed by Peruvian sculptor Alfredo Osorio, and unveiled on Memorial Day Weekend 2001. It features an angel cradling a presumably dying soldier, ready to crown him with an upheld laurel wreath -- an iconography that has been used in other memorials.
The Memorial lists the 39 Latinos who have received America's highest award for valor, the rarely-given Congressional Medal of Honor. Bell Gardens' population is 93 percent Hispanic, and town officials felt that calling attention to the Medal recipients would provide good role models for local young people. We hope the kids understand that not all military Congressional Medal of Honor recipients are dead. In fact, six of them attended the Memorial's dedication.