An illegal Mexican,
Anthony Claude Acevedo, crossed the U.S. border— after he was deported— to join
the U.S. Army during WWII. Mr. Acevedo died last month. After he enlisted, he was trained as
a medic. In early 1945, he and hundreds of soldiers
were captured by Nazis.
Similar to current
thinking among America First “nationalists,” Nazis separated Jewish soldiers
and this Mexican medic. The solidiers' experiences in a special POW camp for “undesirables”
was horrifying, even by Nazi standards.
Shortly after the
Berlin Wall came down and Germany was unified, my father wrote to the Wall Street Journal. For a man who came
illegally to the U.S.—on false papers and a false name (from Otto Lefkovits to
Robert LeRoy), his written account is perfectly haunting. My dad learned
English—and so did Mr. Acevedo, who chronicled the cruelty suffered by his
American compatriots.
Anyone who takes a minute or two to read testimonies from Mr. LeRoy (just click on top photo for enlargement) and Mr. Acevedo (https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/03/08/health/world-war-ii-medic-anthony-acevedo-obit/index.html?__twitter_impression=true) will be fortified to speak out and act against the popular
hate of our times.
(Technical note: Crossing the U.S. border without permission is termed "unlawful entry." It is unlawful but not criminal. Crossing the border after you are deported is a criminal offense, and so is presenting false documents to border officials. Here, both men were truly illegal aliens.)
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