Final:How the War in Iraq Has Affected San Antonio

A Tragedy in the U.S.
Terrorism has been going on for years throughout the nation. Although 9/11 is one of the most crucial, darkest days for Americans, the War on Terrorism did not begin on this day. Our nation's most popular and most tragic war yet to this day is still ongoing. What happened on September 11, 2001 in New York was a devastating act of terrorism from the most notorious Islam, Osama Bin Laden, and his Al-Qaeda crew. Those horrible actions literally marked a day in our calendars. Thousands of Americans lost their lives on that tragic day, and many families lost their loved ones. Many Americans think that the war that is still going on in Iraq should end now. Many soldiers are dying everyday and families are enduring the pain of their tragic loss. Many children have to now live life without ever knowing their dads, or live life without their moms, or simply without a loved one.
In 1998 the Afghans, Sudan, and associates of Osama Bin Laden bombed the U. S. embassies in Kenya, and Tanzania which killed 224 people including 12 Americans, and injured 5, 000 others. This then led at the time President Bill Clinton to launch Operation Infinite Reach, a bombing campaign in Afghanistan that targeted against associations with Al-Qaeda and their affiliates. There were threats and controversy that the Afghans were making nuclear gas missiles to use against the United States. When the bombing in Afghanistan took place and the U.S. found no nuclear threats, and killed several Afghans, Osama Bin Laden later threatened that he would retaliate in 2001. His threat then became a reality. Then, the attack in New York City took place. Terrorist hijacked four airliners, two which intentionally crashed into the twin towers of The World Trade Center, The third crashed into the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed into an open area in Pennsylvania. Then, the war in Iraq was on its way. According to Eric Draper of the Washington Post, “On the night of Sept. 11, President Bush met with his war cabinet and started America on the road to war. Nine days later, the president would address the nation before a joint session of Congress. Those 10 days -- Sept. 11 to Sept. 20 -- marked a crucial turning point in the country's history as the U.S. confronted the threat of international terrorism.” President Bush then orders thousands of troops to head to Iraq to look for Saddam Huessein, Osama Bin Ladin, nuclear threats, and all terrorist threats they encounter. After the terrorist attacks,thousands of people around the world enlist to be part of the United States military to be able to represent and defend our country and freedom. The war has been active for six years, and many people still disapprove.
Although the whole world has been affected, I know some people here in San Antonio that were hit very hard by the War in Iraq. I work at an elementary school and one of my co-workers(Yolanda) husband was just recently sent to Iraq in October of 2007. He is in the Air Force and has been for twenty three years. This would be his first time he was actually sent out to operation Iraq or any other operation. I talk to Yolanda on a daily basis and she worries about her husband every single day. I had the opportunity to ask her how has the war in Iraq affected her. Yolanda replied, “Well, not only was my husband sent out to Iraq, but I also have a nephew out there so it has affected my entire family. Since, my husband has been gone, things have been tough around the house. He was the cook in the house. He cooked everything from scratch and that is only one thing we miss about him not being here. I have two young girls that miss their dad tremendously and we worry about him every single day. It is sometimes hard for me to concentrate at work, and then there’s times when I’m at work and it’s so busy that’s the only time I can get my mind off of worrying about David(Yolanda’s husband).” Her eyes got really watery while she was talking to me. I had to change the subject and tell her that was enough information I needed. Then, I chose a random teacher there at the school which I thought I could also ask how has the war in Iraq affected her. Surprisingly, Mrs. Garcia said, “The war has affected my whole family. My nephew was killed in Iraq three years ago. He was so close to my son and daughter they admired him. When they heard the news they were just devastated. My sister took it so hard I thought she was never get back on her feet. There is a in the SouthSide named after him in his honor.
Then, I have a friend Isabel a fellow classmate in my Spanish class. When I asked her how has the war affected her she replied, “It has had a dramatic affect on my family. My son-in-law just committed suicide two weeks ago. We had his burial last week. He served a year in Iraq and when he got home he was lost. He was not himself. He was diagnosed with post traumatic stress, and had to take depression pills. He heavily relied on them. He would tell us that we do not understand what he’s going through he needs to have the pills. So we told him to try to go without them because we thought he was addicted to the pills. Well, then he committed suicide.” I did not ask how? I really wanted to know at the time, but I did not think it was appropriate. It still lingers in my mind, because he was a young man, only twenty eight years old. He left behind a wife and two kids. These were only a few stories told. Imagine how many more war stories around San Antonio there are to tell. San Antonians show their support by hanging up yellow ribbons on their trees, porches and doors. Many people also contribute and show support by donating items and money to send care packages to the soldiers in Iraq. People in San Antonio have come together since the war in Iraq has began. It is imperative that we show our support for our troops that put their lives on the line to ensure our safety and freedom, also support the families who have loved ones deployed, and to those who have lost loved ones during this time of tragedy.

Lydia Mendoza was an American guitarist who sang tejano music. She was once known as the QUEEN of TEJANO music back in the 1930’s. She was born on May 21, 1996, into a musical family from Houston, Texas. Her mother and grandmother were also singers, she obviously took after them. Lydia and her family once entered a musical contest and won first place. With those earnings her family and her made a life in San Antonio. They did several shows around San Antonio expressing her god given talent. During the big Depression she and her family would travel and she would sing for the poor people and bring a little joy in their lives. Not many people would do that especially for nothing in return. This just goes to show how caring Lydia was and how she loved doing what she does. Her family struggled for two years, making their living by playing at the open air market for some cash. After singing, traveling, and putting on shows she was finally discovered by a major recording label who decided to take her in and record her music. She would be one of the very first tejano female recordist. She became big and popular by all. People everywhere wanted to hear her music. She had a popular song that was dedicated to her husband and personally wrote by her, it was called “Amor Bonito”. This song is very touching. It expresses her deep love and devotion for him and how much she appreciates. When her husband died, she was very, very sadly depressed as would anyone after losing a loved one. But then she met a new love who would help renew her spirits and help her resume her singing career. Although, she had arthritis in her hands, she continued to perform until the late 1980’s, when a stroke left her somewhat paralyzed. Lydia Mendoza earned herself many honorary recognitions throughout her music career. She died at a mere ninety-one years old on December 20 2007.

HAPPY RIO HOLIDAYS

In the halls of Palo Alto Elementary lies an admirable piece of artwork by an artist named Ismael Pena. Ismael is an artistic fifth grader who attends the elementary school. He was the winner of the Fiesta River Parade art contest held last month. Every year the Texas Cavaliers organization ask local elementary schools to submit students’ artwork depicting the theme of the annual Fiesta River Parade. Hundreds maybe even thousands of drawings are entered, however, only 10 finalists are chosen. Each finalist represents one of the 10 City Council Districts. Out of the 10 finalists only one piece of art is chosen to be the triumphant grand winner. Ismael Pena excelled in his art drawing and surpassed the other 9 finalists. He is now the Honorary Grand Marshal of the River Parade and will get to travel on the float. Ismael’s artwork will be on the cover of the River Parade program which is distributed to all ticket holders throughout San Antonio. He also earned a $1,000 worth of art supplies for his school. His artwork theme is HAPPY RIO HOLIDAYS, which is absolutely bold and colorful. I think his purpose was to not only incorporate the holidays in his work by drawing seasonal figures on the float, but also to display the downtown area by adding the Tower of Americus and the surrounding buildings in the background. The focal point of this art is the King Antonio right in the center. This is an asymmetrical piece with motion going on in the fireworks display and also in the river. Ismael’s talent was highly recognized and truly appreciated by all. He is a young boy with a great talent that will inspire and bring him success for the future.

The presentation on Friday was very mind boggling. The young lady doing the presentation gave out interesting facts about our water source. The pictures she showed on the slide show were pretty cool pictures of our aquifer and it’s surroundings. There was a lot of information distributed throughout the forty five minutes of her presence. It was also nice to know the descriptions of her job, and to know how well she knows her facts and presents her case in front of the city council to better serve our city with the intent to preserve our main water source. Doing the group activity gave us a better sense of how easy it is to get more involved to help our city, and our communities, and to be another voice for protecting our water. Knowing where exactly the charge zones lie was something else I did not know about. Overall, it was nice having her as a speaker in our classroom because gave out a scrupulous presentation with lot’s of great information that I was very unaware of.

A Place Called Home

I was born and raised in the southside of San Antonio and I have lived here for twenty-eight years. Growing up as a little girl, I was always satisfied with where I lived. My parents being old fashion Hispanics were actually stuck to this side of town, which kept me from exploring. As I grew older I had come to the realization that there was much more to San Antonio than just the southside. That is when we moved to the northwest of town. I attended John Jay High School for one year, and it was a whole new world for me. Living out there was like a great adventure for me. I finally discovered that there was actually alot more going on in the northside of town. I eventually encountered the better selections of just about everything, and convinced my mom to head out further north to do some shopping for the family. So, we would go just about every other weekend which was great for me as a teenager. My parents once again had us move down to the southside where they said the price of living was more comfortably for their budgets. Then, I convinced myself when I was old enough, I will be sure that the first home I buy will be in the northside of san Antonio, conveniently located to all the great restaurants, the great shopping centers, and not to mention the great schools for my children. Who wouldn’t want that? At least that is what I thought. I am now married and have three beautiful children, whom I absolutely love and adore, and I want the best for. Raising my family here, I have really come to appreciate where my true roots are from. Yes, the one and only southside of San Antonio, where I have lived just about all my life. After living with parents, and in-laws with absolutely no privacy, and paying rent on highly priced apartments, it was finally time to invest on a home for the family. We did some house hunting, and all the great houses and best communities were all in the northside of San Antonio. I truly did consider moving the family out there, however, something kept bringing me back. It is ironic I thought, I have become the old fashion hispanic I once called my parents. After coming back to the southside every time the family and I headed out to look for a house, it dawned on me, I guess we are stuck here. Just then, we decided to build a house in one of the most popular subdivisions in the south, the Lago Vista subdivision. The subdivision was first founded in December of 2000, and it was a big ordeal for all the southsiders. A new community with brand spanking homes built from the ground up was a huge step to expanding the southside, and everyone wanted to be part of the new community. We chose to build in the Lago Vista subdivision because my husband and I are familiar with the area, and my work is just literally three minutes away. I work at Palo Alto Elementary School in the morning, then right after I head straight to school(Palo Alto College)which is also about three minutes away. There is a convenient store a minute away, right next to the store is the veterinary’s office I take my dogs to, and next to the vet is the church I attend, which is about a minute and a half away or maybe less. Further down, a few minutes away is the mall, the grocery store, retail stores, and fast food restaurants. We are also about six miles away form the Toyota Plant. My neighborhood is one of the newest additions to the subdivision. I live on a new street with only nine houses including mine. There is a combination of people who reside in the neighborhood. I have noticed that the majority are younger families. Although we have a short street with not too many houses, we do not know our neighbors. My brother once talked to a young guy that lives to the right of us, and he said that he along with the neighbors to the left of us and two more families on our street all work at the Toyota Plant. The neighborhood is filled with more middle class families. People walk their dogs, children ride their bikes, and families enjoy their new homes.

The Alamo

The trip to the Alamo was very mind refreshing. I remember attending the Alamo when I was very young, and of course then as little children we don’t pay much attention. Although, this time I learned a lot more and found things a lot more interesting. It is pleasing to know about the history of The Texas Revolution and how the battle took place at the Alamo, our hometown of San Antonio. The Alamo was founded in 1724. It is also known as the Mission San Antonio de Valero. The Mission San Antonio de Valero was first located near the headwaters of San Pedro Creek in 1718, where the missions main acequia was built and located. Then The Mission San Antonio de Valero was relocated once again in 1719. After a storm ruined the structures at it’s new location, it was relocated for the third time where it stands at this moment. The Spanish officials secularized all five San Antonio missions and shared their land with the remaining Indians. They converted the Indians into Roman Catholicism and taught them how to farm the fields. The Royals and the Revolutionaries occupied the Alamo during Mexico’s ten year struggle for independence. The military Spanish, Rebel, and the Mexican continued to stay until the Texas Revolution. The Texas Revolution, was a rebellion in late 1835 and early 1836 by residents of Texas, then part of northern Mexico, against the Mexican government and military. The battle was between the Republic of Mexico and the rebel Texian forces, including both anglos and Tejanos, during the Texians’ fight for independence.Ben Miliam led the Tejanos against the Mexican troops quartered in the city which led Cos to surrender and the Tejanos took over the occupancy in the Alamo. That’s when Santa Ana and his army surprisingly showed up and a battle began. The battle was not a scene of victory. It was a scene of defeat for the Texas Revolution. Everyone of the nearly 200 defenders lost their lives against Santa Ana’s Mexican army. The Tejano’s which were not all military, most were volunteers fought enormous odds willing to sacrifice their life rather than surrendering. Santa Ana allowed the slaves, women and children to go free to tell the tale of the battle.

As you walk to the dam you will still see that there is water flowing through. You will also see lots of trees, lots of rocks, and lots of brushes surrounding the dam. Aside from the sacred and unique church’s in the missions, the dams were just as important for the Spaniards and Indians to up keep and maintain. The dam certainly had a huge impact in the missions. It was the missions only source for water supply. The dam supplied the water to help the Spaniards and Indians to irrigate their fields. The initial survival of a new mission depended upon the planting and harvesting of crops. In South Texas, intermittent rainfall and the need for a reliable water source made the design and installation of an acequia system a high priority. Irrigation was very important to the Spaniards that they measured croplands in the amount of land that would be able to be watered in a day. Not only was the acequia used for their fields, but also for their cooking of meals, washing, and cleaning up. The Missions till this day are still important to us. Every day some one will learn about the history of our missions. The water is also still used by residents living on these neighboring lands. These landmarks are still very visible since the days they were built. Espada Dam, built between 1731 and 1740 is the best existing example of the four Franciscan –designed dams placed on the San Antonio River. More so, these structures represent perhaps the best surviving physical assembly of an eighteenth century Spanish irrigation network in the United States. Mission Espada, located in our home town of San Antonio is a National Historic Park where locals, tourists and visitors are more than welcomed to visit and learn more about our history.

Mission Espada

Mission San Fransisco de la Espada was transferred from Weches, TX to the San Antonio area in 1731. The Indians first lived in South Texas, where their enviroment was nothing but greenlands with animals and the crops they grew to survive. Then, the Spaniards arrived and offered them a better way of living. The Spaniards were the first to start building the Missions. The Missions main areas were the chapels where the Indians and Spaniards worshiped their masters and beliefs. Along with the chapels was their main water source the Acequia. The acequia system irrigated the missions' fields allowing them to maintain their crops. Till this day when visiting The Espada Missions, the acequia is still visible for visitors and tourists.