Ultimate sacrifice recalled at Heights WWII memorial
This Memorial Day, respectful visitors pause to remember those who gave lives
Robert Taylor took his time studying the names at the Houston Heights WWII Memorial Plaza. Each one somebody who sacrificed. Some who gave their lives.
“I purposely wanted to show up,” Taylor said, two hours early for a Memorial Day event at the plaza, nestled between northbound and southbound traffic on Heights Boulevard at 11th Street.
“This is what Memorial Day is about,” he said.
The memorial plaza, which most days hides in plain sight from the hustle and bustle of the Heights, was a hub of activity throughout most of the holiday. Long before Taylor, hours before even the sound crew got there to string cables for an afternoon event, joggers and families filed into the semi-circle, each for their own reasons.
“We knew it was here and we wanted to take the kids out for a walk,” Brad Shive said after taking his daughter, 4-year-old Brooke, on a tour of the names. “It is fantastic, and we are lucky to have it in our neighborhood to show it and remember.”
The memorial, built in 1999, honors Heights-area residents who served in WWII, with the names of about 2,100 area residents who served in the war. In the center, etched on a pylon holding up a globe, are the names of the 224 neighborhood residents who died, including Navy Petty Officer David C. Isaacks, killed April 6, 1945, during an attack on the USS Belleau Wood.
“He got knocked off the ship,” said David Chuber, whose stepbrother was Isaacks’ son. “They heard him in the water, but they never found him.”
What is crucial, many people said at a holiday gathering, is that those killed are celebrated as heroes.
“We can never thank those that made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Gen. Carlton Smith, assistant deputy adjunct general of the Texas Army National Guard. “The best thing we can do is continue to respect them and never forget them.”
U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who represents the area and organized the event, also urged attendees not to leave behind soldiers who are struggling to readapt, noting 20 veterans per day commit suicide, a 2013 statistic from the Veterans Administration that some believe might be an under-count of current numbers.
“If we believe mi casa es su casa, my house is your house, we
will not tolerate that,” Jackson Lee said of the lack of treatment and assistance for veterans. “Let us say thank you by checking on you.”
That is why the holiday is more than beaches and barbecues for many area residents.
“It has always been important to me,” said Alan Figurski, 25. “I’ve been raised to appreciate these days.”
His hair kept out of his eyes for a run with an American flag bandanna, Figurski made the memorial the stopping point, so he could reflect. A former active duty soldier now in the reserves, he said he believes most people still stop and think about the sacrifice of others.
Beaven Fernandes, 52, made a point to stop by, with his son Gabriel, 13, in tow. They just wanted to stop by the memorial, but ended up right on time for the midday event, with a new perspective on the site.
“We drive by all the time, I drive by it on my way to work, but you can’t really see it,” Beaven Fernandes said. “You have to be on foot.”
Many who are fleet of foot also flew by the memorial. As part of a training route, a nearby gym trainer and veteran sent runners racing up the trail to take a selfie, as part of a daily exercise regimen.
“It’s a scavenger hunt,” Hung Cao said, before trotting off with Juan Montiel.
Moments later, two other runners raced up, dawdled for a moment and dashed off. One ran off slightly before the other, who was hung up by passing cars. The one already across 11th jogged in place: honoring the code to not leave anyone behind.
Part of the draw and the obscurity of the memorial is that it sits in a bustling place, along the popular Heights esplanade and its heavily-used running trail, that makes it both accessible and unmistakable from the cars passing by.
The design of the site even takes that into account. More than a dozen concrete bollards — posts aimed at stopping a vehicle from entering — line the memorial. In addition to serving as a barrier for traffic, they pull double-duty as educational guideposts to World War II, ranging from honoring key battles to the all-important Allied victories to end the war.
On the busy trail, it is just another stop along 17 blocks of artwork, benches, lampposts and gazebos. A runner with her dog sits down to get a rock out of her shoe, then keeps moving. Two middle-aged couples power-walk past, talking about dinner between heavy breaths as they work up a sweat. Two others run by planning their afternoon barbecue.
Patrons trickle into nearby restaurants that have popped up as part of the neighborhood’s redevelopment. Across the street used to be the post office. Now it’s a commercial development with a juice bar and dentist’s office.
“You used to be able to smell the Heights,” said Larry Escobedo, 34, recalling when homes with fences festooned with jasmine and honeysuckle lined the street rather than real estate offices. “Now with all the building, you can’t.”
Escobedo, whose family has lived in the Heights three generations, stopped by the memorial to pay his respects. It’s important, he said, to recognize the role people in the neighborhood played to keep it safe.
“If it wasn’t for those guys,” he said, pointing at the names on the wall, “we wouldn’t be here.”