MISSION — White birds soared in a graceful formation above the rows of headstones creating an almost peaceful dance; beneath them are the heroes laid to rest here at the Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery in Mission.
The cool morning breeze accompanied the somber feeling Friday as Texas Veterans Land Board members folded an American flag and prepared to hand it to the family of U.S. Army Veteran Cpl. Antonio De Jesus Tijerina of San Juan.
“Corporal Tijerina’s family never had closure; he went missing in some of the most brutal and heaviest fightings in the Korean War,” said Mission business owner George Rice, a representative of the Texas Veterans Land Board. “They never had a funeral, never had a service, so it’s been 72 years and he is finally being given the military honors he’s earned.”
Rice was speaking of a MIA/KIA Veteran Burial that the VLB and local veterans organizations held for Cpl. Tijerina on Friday morning. Although his remains were never recovered, a headstone was provided to give his family that sense of closure Rice spoke of, and to put his memory to rest nearly three quarters of a century after he didn’t make it home.
Tijerina was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division and was declared missing in action on Nov. 2, 1950, according to the Korean War Project.
On Oct. 25 the 8th Cavalry Regiment, which included the 1st, 2nd and 3rd battalions, had been ordered to fight in the northward attack near Unsan, Korea. During the course of the operation, the regiments were separated and surrounded by Chinese forces who took advantage of a mile-long gap between the 1st and 2nd battalions.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, more than 1,000 men from the 8th Cavalry Regiment were initially listed as missing in action after the Battle of Unsan, Cpl. Tijerina was among them.
He was declared dead on Dec. 31, 1953.
Rice explained that the family had reached out to the board asking for a headstone marker for Tijerina.
Upon further research, the VLB discovered Tijerina was an Army veteran from San Juan.
His nephew, Celso Alvarado Jr., attended the ceremonial burial Friday with his wife Gloria, who provided more insight on Tijerina’s service.
Other family members were also in attendance for the burial, which included full military honors including the performance of taps, a 21-gun salute and folding of the flag, at which point birds appearing to be doves happened to fly overhead as veteran volunteers explained the significance of the flag folding to Celso.
According to Celso and Gloria, Tijerina enlisted in the Army and served in World War II. He returned home and later joined the war effort in Korea to help his family financially.
At the ceremony, Celso and his family carried a collage of photos that showed Tijerina and the medals he had received — the United Nations Medal, Korean War 50th Anniversary Commemorative Medal, and the Purple Heart.
“We wanted something to come to — kind of like to reflect — and we got that today,” Gloria said at the ceremony.
Rice, who said there has been one MIA burial and 11 KIA burials at the state cemetery, added that Tijerina’s service to his country was more than sufficient for the honors devoted in his memory Friday.
“It is iconic that someone of that caliber, of that valor, was born and raised down here in the Rio Grande Valley,” Rice said.
To see more, view Monitor photojournalist Joel Martinez’s full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: Family, veterans lay to rest San Juan corporal killed in action in Korea
