The Eugene A. Obregon / Congressional Medal of Honor Campaign

The mission of the Obregon/CMH Foundation is to finance and construct a monument honoring the Congressional Medal of Honor recipients of Latino descent. The sponsors of this effort feel that the sacrifices these heroes made for our freedoms and democratic ideals have never been recognized. Even U.S.-born Latinos are largely unaware that service to our country has been an important part of the Latino tradition dating back to the American Revolution when the armed forces of the Spanish governor of Louisiana engaged the British Army and Navy in three major battles and decisively defeated them, thus aiding General George Washington's small and under-equipped army.

It is a little known fact that of the nearly 3,500 Medals of Honor awarded since the Civil War, 59 have been given to Latino Americans making them the largest single ethnic group, in proportion to the number who served, to earn our nation's highest award for bravery.

This site will remind all who visit it that many of these heroes made the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard our liberties and to protect their comrades. Such was the case of Pfc Eugene A. Obregon, a young Marine from East Los Angeles, California, who gave his life so that his friend, Pfc Bert M. Johnson of Grand Prairie, Texas, might live. While shielding the wounded Bert with his body, Gene Obregon single-handedly held off an entire North Korean platoon, killing 22 of the enemy before falling to a burst of enemy machine gun fire. Obregon's deed exemplifies the brotherhood that should exist among all Americans.

Above all, it is important to understand that the purpose of the Obregon/CMH monument is not to glorify war, but to honor those patriotic Latino Americans who, for love of country, liberty and brotherhood "performed with conspicuous gallantry, above and beyond the call of duty."

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