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Deleted profiles in courage: General Richard E. Cavazos [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-07-04
When I wrote this article a couple of days ago, I was able to read a brief biography of General Richard E. Cavazos on the Army’s website. By the time you read this, maybe you can read the same page I read, maybe you can’t.
When I read the page, it had this disclaimer:
We have deliberately taken some of our webpages offline in order to comply with Executive Orders and OSD Policy. The intent is to preserve our history, and we are working to re-publish content as soon as possible.
This is of course ridiculous, though not nearly as insulting as having an Army post named after him reverted back to be named after a traitor against the United States. Well, not exactly, wink, wink.
The bio starts at the beginning.
Richard Edward Cavazos was born on Jan. 31, 1929, in Kingsville, Texas, and grew up on a cattle ranch. Born to Mexican-American parents, Cavazos spent his childhood following in the footsteps of his World War I veteran-turned-ranch foreman father. Despite growing up in an era of intense racism, Cavazos’ parents managed to put all of their children through college, an unheard-of accomplishment for most Mexican-American families at that time. Cavazos attended Texas Technological College, now Texas Tech University, on a football scholarship until he broke his leg his sophomore year. After his recovery, Cavazos continued his education through the school’s ROTC program and graduated with distinction. In 1951, he was commissioned into the Army and completed basic officer training at Fort Benning, Georgia, now Fort Moore.
Let me digress a little bit to point out that Fort Benning was originally named after Confederate General Henry Benning. Then under President Biden, it was renamed Fort Moore, after Lieutenant General Hal Moore, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross who co-authored the novel that became the basis for the film We Were Soldiers. Then Fort Moore was renamed after Corporal Fred Benning, who also received the Distinguished Service Cross but not many other decorations. Do you buy that?
In the rush to take down so-called “DEI” pages and then put them back up, there was no proofreading, no updating.
He was then deployed to Korea, where he was selected as platoon leader of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 65th Infantry Regiment. Known as the Borinqueneers, the 65th Infantry had been in Korea since the start of the war and was primarily made up of Soldiers from Puerto Rico, many of whom only spoke Spanish. Cavazos, who was raised bilingual, was a welcome addition after a series of commanders who spoke no Spanish, which resulted in confusion and chaos during battles.
Huh. So we were okay with soldiers who don’t speak English just as long as we can find someone to relay orders to them.
Throughout his time in the Army, Cavazos believed that troops needed to have complete trust and faith in their commanding officer to achieve victory. As an example of his leadership, in February 1953, Cavazos, at first leading a few of his men and then going on alone once under attack by enemy fire, captured a wounded enemy soldier who had been left behind after an earlier skirmish. Cavazos was awarded a Silver Star for his bravery. In June 1953, Cavazos’ leadership abilities were once again on display. He led his men on an assault of the enemy-held Hill 412 as part of a maneuver to cover Outpost Harry, an important defensive position near the hill. They soon came under heavy enemy artillery fire, which resulted in many American casualties. After successfully defending Outpost Harry through three intense hours of fighting, Cavazos received the order to return to friendly lines. Refusing to leave fallen and wounded American Soldiers behind, he repeatedly went back to rescue men, despite being wounded himself. His actions led to the Army awarding him the Distinguished Service Cross. Cavazos rotated back to the United States in the fall of 1953, where he was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, now Fort Cavazos.
At the time that was written, anyway. Now it’s Fort Hood once again, but the folks at Wikipedia report with a straight face that it’s now named after Colonel Robert B. Hood, an actual decorated officer of the United States Army who did win the Distinguished Service Cross just like Cavazos.
But Colonel Hood has had a Wikipedia page for barely two weeks as I write this. Instead of a portrait of the man, Wikipedia has a picture of his medal and unit patch. Contrast that to Cavazos, who has had a Wikipedia page since 2007 (Wikipedia got started in 2001). And there’s a far more important point that I’m saving for a little later in this article.
After rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel, he was sent to Vietnam in 1967. There he became the commander of the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment. His style of leadership was immediately noticed by his troops. “He was an atypical army officer in Vietnam,” remembered Bill Fee, who served under him. “Most battalion commanders stood in the rear or in a helicopter above to direct the battle … [He] had nothing to do with that. He fought on the ground with his troops during battle … he was on the ground with us as we were facing the North Vietnamese Army.” Another testament to Cavazos’ loyalty to his men and their safety was when he organized a counterattack against enemy forces near Loc Ninh. He once again disregarded his personal safety and led an assault on the enemy’s hillside position, often exposing himself to hostile fire while moving among his troops. He directed such a barrage of artillery fire toward Viet Cong insurgents that the enemy soon fled. This counterattack led the Army to award him a second Distinguished Service Cross. Cavazos is also remembered as a beloved mentor and teacher. His determination to share what he had learned throughout his career made him influential in the development of the Army’s Battle Command Training Program for high-ranking officers. Soldiers from all walks of life, including General Colin Powell, credited Cavazos for inspiring them to stay in the Army. “I told him what he meant to us poor Hispanic kids,” recalled Maj. Gen. Alfred Valenzuela. “His impact as a mentor is probably the greatest impact our Army had … we all looked up to him as an American soldier, a Hispanic soldier. He was the guy we wanted to be. If we couldn’t be him, we wanted to be near him and serve with him.” Cavazos retired from the Army in 1984 after 33 years of service. Before his retirement, he made military history when the Army appointed him as the first Hispanic brigadier general in 1976 and then four-star general in 1982. Richard E. Cavazos passed away in 2017 at the age of 88 due to complications from Alzheimer’s.
Then there is a detailed account of the battle in June 1953 for which Cavazos earned the Medal of Honor.
Then-1st Lt. Richard E. Cavazos distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty, while serving as the commander of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 65th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, on June 14-15, 1953, in the vicinity of Sagimak, Korea. On the night of June 14, Cavazos led his company during a raid on an entrenched enemy outpost with the mission of destroying the personnel and installation. During the initial attack, Cavazos led his men through intense enemy mortar and artillery fire. Upon entering the trenches, fierce close combat ensued, and Cavazos directed heavy fire on the enemy and their positions. When an extremely intense enemy mortar and artillery barrage hit his position, Cavazos withdrew the company and regrouped his men. Twice more he led his men through intense enemy fire during assaults on the enemy position, destroying vital fortifications and personnel. During the entire assault, Cavazos gave effective commands and words of encouragement to his men and inspired them to heroic heights of achievement through his personal example and leadership. When ordered to withdraw his company, Cavazos complied but remained alone on the enemy outpost to search for missing men. While exposed to enemy fire, he located five casualties and evacuated them, one by one, to a point on the reverse slope of a nearby hill where they could be safely recovered by friendly forces. Returning to the battlefield, he found a small group of men who had become separated from the main assaulting force and personally led them to safety. When informed that men were still missing, Cavazos again returned to the scene of the battle and led another small group of men to safety. Cavazos then made two more unassisted trips to the battlefield, searching for missing soldiers. When he was satisfied that the battlefield was cleared on the morning of June 15, he finally allowed his own combat wounds to be treated. Cavazos later became the first Hispanic brigadier general in 1976, and was promoted to four-star general in 1982. Then-1st Lt. Cavazos' conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
There’s something missing from that page. The term “Medal of Honor” does occur a few times. But I didn’t see any mention that this particular battle is the reason Cavazos was awarded the Medal of Honor. Maybe the page mentioned that the medal was presented on January 3, 2025, by President Joe Biden (D, 2021 — 2025).
There are plenty of results for Hood on the website of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. None of them last name Hood. It’s just that they served at Fort Hood. Will Trump and Hegseth decide to give Colonel Hood the Medal of Honor? Probably not. More disturbingly, however, will they think of rescinding Cavazos’s medal? I hope not.
Some of you might be thinking about the USS Hood, NCC-42296, a fictional starship that appeared twice each in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. According to Memory Alpha, that ship was named after Sir Horace Hood, an admiral in the Royal Navy during World War I. That’s certainly more palatable than the USS Hood being named after John Bell Hood, though in my mind it doesn’t quite dismiss the possibility that it was named after the U. S. Army post.
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[1] Url:
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