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- Héctor P. García was born in Llera, Tamaulipas, Mexico, in 1914. His family moved to south Texas in 1918 to escape the Mexican Revolution. He graduated from the University of Texas Medical School in 1940 and then served in the army during World War II. In 1948 he founded the American GI Forum to help Mexican American veterans of World War II obtain health care and other services through the Veterans’ Administration. Under García’s leadership, the GI Forum became involved in the fight in Texas for Hispanic civil rights, including the desegregation of public facilities and the inclusion of Hispanics on Texas juries. In 1967 President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed García to serve as alternate ambassador to the United Nations to improve U.S. relations with Latin America and Spain. The following year García became the first Hispanic to serve on the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights. García received many awards, including the United States of America Medal of Freedom (1984) and the National Council of La Raza, Maclovio Barraza Award (1990). He died in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1996.
