"Like Doss and Inouye, Staff Sgt. Roy Benavidez embarked on a journey from poverty and prejudice to receive the highest accolades of a grateful nation. Born on Aug. 5, 1935, near Cuero, Texas, Benavidez’s given name at birth was Raul Perez Benavidez. He changed “Raul” to “Roy” when he joined the Army in 1955. The son of a Mexican farmer and a Yaqui Indian mother, Benavidez was a high school dropout and a troubled youth until he joined the Texas National Guard in 1952. Seven years later and after multiple overseas tours, Benavidez graduated from Airborne School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The school transformed Benavidez’s life. In his words, “Until I became Airborne, I had often allowed my temper and my insecurities to control the direction of my life.”"
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Medal of Honor recipientsUnited States Army peopleDistinguished Service Cross recipientsPeople from Texas
Original Language: English
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Sources
Colonel Cole C. Kingseed, U.S. Army, Retired, Medal of Honor Recipients Beat Prejudice, The Enemy, Association of the United States Army, 1 April 2022
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roy_Benavidez
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Roy Benavidez
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