Brownsville’s silent march draws massive turnout

By OMAR E. ZAPATA | STAFF WRITER

In its 23 years, the annual Memorial Day Silent March had its biggest turnout yet Monday, with around 300 people participating in the Brownsville march and ceremony to honor fallen veterans.

Starting at the H-E-B on Central Boulevard and walking one mile down the road to Veterans Park, a crowd of red, white and blue silently marched, with many veterans in attendance and family members and friends walking for their lost loved ones.

Tiny Barrientes, head organizer for the event and a Vietnam Veteran, told The Brownsville Herald he started marching 23 years ago when there was no march to honor veterans and when Veterans Park was just an old motel.

“We never celebrated on Memorial Day,” he said. “There was nothing on so… me being a veteran, me having friends that didn’t make it back and classmates and I said, “Well, let’s do this.”

At 73, Barrientes said is grateful to still be able to participate in the march itself and also help organize the event with the help of about 20 volunteers.

“It gives me a high just to make this event and to see all these people participate to celebrate our fallen soldiers, brothers and sisters, that have passed away,” he said.

Barrientes said Monday’s turnout was the event’s largest.

Filled with emotion when asked how he felt about the participation, Barrienetes, holding back tears, said, “ I get emotional that I get to see this, it just makes me happy.”

With help from the Brownsville police, fire, and parks and recreation departments, the march concluded with a ceremony at Veterans Park with water, hotdogs, fruits and guest speakers from veterans, family of fallen veterans and even city and county officials that included Mayor Trey Mendez and County Judge Eddie Trevino Jr.

Due to the tragedy at Uvalde, organizers decided to suspend the 21-gun salute and have 21 seconds of silence for fallen veterans and the 21 lives lost last week.

Rodger Garcia, a U.S. Navy veteran from 1969-73, said he has attended every silent march since its inception and always carries a photo of his father, a U.S Army veteran who served in World War II, to honor him.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to march along with other veterans and other citizens of this city … I am overwhelmed by the number of people that are here,” Garcia said. “We are getting hotdogs and fruit donated to us so, it is awesome. It is the best one we’ve ever had and the biggest one we’ve ever had.”

Honoring his father, Garcia also shed light on what veterans go through after returning from service like post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and alcohol and drug abuse.

“He didn’t die in battle,” he said. “But he suffered with PTSD as a young man, as a father, as a grandfather… “If you’re a veteran and you’re struggling with depression, anxiety, if you think you have PTSD, go to the VA clinic in Harlingen or the one closest to you or visit a counselor or a doctor. Get help because when you suffer by yourself and your family also suffers,” Garcia said.

Nailea Silguero, a retired U.S Army veteran who served in Afghanistan in 2013, and her brother Sebastian Silguero, who is in the U.S Army, both said they were proud to attend the silent march as they come from a large military family.

With their grandfather serving in Vietnam and uncles and cousins serving as well, they said they honor them and are grateful to have seen such a large community turnout this year.

“It’s such a warm feeling to see our community full of so many brothers and sisters. It’s such an amazing feeling, knowing that there’s other people that have gone through the same things that we have all gone through,” Nailea said.

Being a female veteran, she said seeing other female veterans at the march and ceremony made her feel even more proud of serving and less lonely.

Also touching on the issues veterans encounter, Nailea said she is a big advocate of behavioral and mental health as she suffers from PTSD coming back from deployment.

“One thing I advocate with my heart is getting any help,” she said. “Reaching out to the Veterans Crisis Line, reaching out to family members, to other veterans. So, places like this where we get together for veterans, it helps us reach out to one another and to look for other people that need our help.”

Sebastian said it is something he takes very seriously, especially with being in the military currently.

“It’s something that we should keep an eye on, you know, watch out on our battle buddies and our family members,” he said.

For help with PTSD, depression or any other issue, reach out to the Veterans Crisis Line at (800) 273-8255 or the Harlingen VA at (956) 291-9000.