Medal Of Honor Ceremony - December 31, 1901 - France Silva USMC
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Medal Of Honor Ceremony - December 31, 1901
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Citizen Journalism By Sgt John Minton USMC (retired/med)
Marine Corps League/Young Marines
A Medal of Honor recipient is all but forgotten. He served during the Spanish American War and the Boxer Rebellion. He joined the Marine Corps, attended and completed Boot Camp at Mare Island in 1899. In China he volunteered for a hazardous task and was wounded. He returned to the Bay Area and was medically discharged. He received the Medal of Honor but is now buried by himself in a Northern California cemetery. No family members are near him. There is no plot for them.
France Silva was born on May 8, 1876 in Hayward, California. In the late 1890’s the United States had already been involved in expanding its influence around the globe. Men like Silva joined the military for various reasons but he joined the Marine Corps and was eventually assigned to the USS Newark which ended up in Asia for the Spanish American War and the China Relief Expedition (Boxer Rebellion).
Lt. Smedley Butler and Pvt. Dan Daly were at Peking, too, but Pvt. France Silva (and a few others) didn’t receive the same recognition. Butler and Daly performed brilliantly and earned their due. Pvt. Silva volunteered to help reconstruct a barricade while under constant fire from Chinese snipers. Several Marines and others were seriously wounded or killed, but Silva made a rush to help anyway. And he got shot.
His wounds were serious enough to take him out of the action. He did recover but was medically discharged from the Marine Corps in January 1901 at Mare Island. The Medal of Honor was awarded on December 31, 1901, also at Mare Island. He was the first Hispanic-American to receive the Medal of Honor.
Not a lot is known (at this time) what he did after leaving the Marine Corps except that he eventually moved to Corning in Tehama County. He worked in a nursery and on April 10, 1951, he died after a brief illness. From all accounts available there was little fanfare for this Medal of Honor winner.
Currently, there is work under way to honor France Silva as a California and Hispanic-American Hero. Pvt. Silva was one of those Americans who answered the call to duty and now it is our duty as Americans to salute him once again.
Ref
http://www.vallejonews.com/articles/index.cfm?artoid=333683
http://www.vallejonews.com/articles/index.cfm?artoid=333683
Contact info: Sgt John Minton USMC (retired/med) may be reached at usmcmike3zero@sbcglobal.net
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