New memorial honors veterans

Mayor David Holt says a park honoring military veterans deepens the bonds among Oklahoma City residents.

Holt was among dignitaries who took par tina Veterans Day ceremony dedicating the Oklahoma Medal of Honor Memorial at Manuel Pérez Park.

“This beautiful new park represents so many things for our city,” Holt said by t ext Wednesday afternoon.

“It honors veterans in general and Medal of Honor recipients specifically, which is so appropriate in a city as patriotic as ours.”

The park is named for Manuel Pérez Jr., who was born in Oklahoma City, grew up Chicago, and was killed in action in the Philippines in 1945.

Holt noted Pérez was “a native of our city with Mexican heritage, a wonderful inspiration for the Latino community that surrounds this park. And the location of the park… continues to create important physical link ages between north and south OKC.”

The new Manuel Pérez Park occupies 27 acres along the south bank of the Oklahoma River, at the foot of the S Robinson Avenue bridge.

Pérez previously was honored with a small neighborhood park along SW 14 Street, across the river. The city sold that land to developers as plans for the MAPS 3 downtown park were developed.

The memorial plaza is next to a pavilion with Hispanic architecture and a children's playground.

Private First Class Pérez, 22, was awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in the assault by his unit, Company A of the Army's 511th Parachute Infantry, to re take Fort William McKinley on Luzon, in the Philippine Islands, on Feb. 13, 1945.

According to the military's citation, he single-handedly killed 18 Japanese soldiers in the course of neutralizing a machine-gun emplacement that was holding up the advance of his entire company.

Pérez was known as “Toots” to his family and friends, according to an entry in the Voces Oral History Center at The University of Texas at Austin authored by a cousin, Angela Pérez Miller, in 2004. He was killed by a sniper a month after the action at Fort William McKinley.

The memorial plaza is dedicated to every Oklahoman awarded the Medal of Honor.

[DOUG HOKE PHOTOS/THE OKLAHOMAN] Malachi Rasha salutes after placing a white rose at the foot of the panel honoring Oklahoma Recipients of the Medal of Honor at Wednesday's unveiling of the new Oklahoma Medal of Honor Memorial at Manuel Perez Park in a Veterans Day ceremony.

Veteran Rey Madrid poses for a photo next to wreath at the unveiling of the new Oklahoma Medal of Honor Memorial at Manuel Perez Park in a ceremony on Veterans Day.