Company E Memorial Dedicated

Company E Memorial Dedicated in Downtown El Paso Honoring Mexican-Americans

A SIDE VIEW OF THE STATUE OF MEN OF COMPANY E depicting the names of the Soldiers who served was unveiled at a ceremony in downtown El Paso on June 30. (Photo courtesy of KFOX14/CBS4) THE COMMANDER OF HQ 3-133RD FIELD ARTILLERY REGIMENT, LTC Mark Fitzgerald (center right) and unit members 1Lt Luis Herrera (far left), CPT William Coates Jr. (center left) and 1LT Grant Howk (far right) attend the unveiling of “The Treacherous Crossing” statue in downtown El Paso on Jun 30. HQ 3-133rd Field Artillery Regiment is located in El Paso, Texas.

A young soldier on the battleground pulls his comrade up by the shoulder straps with his left hand, his right firmly clutching his rifle. Two more soldiers lay on the ground nearby, watching for the enemy as another stands and points troops onward. The statue depicted in “The Treacherous Crossing,” shows the Men of Company E’s crossing of Italy’s Rapido River in 1944, one of the most dangerous missions of World War II with the ultimate goal of liberating Rome. The 14-by-8-foot memorial statue by borderland artist Julio Sanchez de Alba was officially unveiled at Cleveland Square in Downtown El Paso on June 30.

Company E was the military’s first and only unit composed entirely of Mexican-Americans — the vast majority from South El Paso. During World War II, the company was at the frontlines of the Rapido River battle in Italy. Most were killed by German troops.

The memorial lists the names of El Paso soldiers who were part of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division deployed from Camp Edwards in Massachusetts to Italy, in April 1943, as well as all soldiers listed on the original memorial. The Treacherous Crossing” include names of some Company E members who weren’t necessarily from El Paso or Mexican-American but who nonetheless made the same sacrifice. That first memorial, “The Men of Company E,” also by Sanchez de Alba, was unveiled at Delta Park in South Central El Paso in 2008. On one side, the memorial depicts members of Company E trying to cross the Rapido River. The other side lists the names of 142 company members from El Paso.

Company E was formed in 1923 as a small Texas National Guard Unit comprising all MexicanAmericans primarily from El Paso’s Segundo Barrio. The company became part of the 2nd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. In 1941, the 36th Division was sent to Camp Bowie, a new facility in Brownwood, Texas, where the men of Company E were led by SGT Lorenzo M. Luna and Capt. John L. Chapin.

Under Chapin, Company E was sent to Europe in 1943 to help liberate Rome from the Germans. Company E suffered numerous casualties in various attacks and deaths due to illness. Along the way, the men were replaced by troops — not all of whom were MexicanAmerican — bolstering the unit to about 160 enlisted men, according to various historical reports.

On the night of January 21, 1944, a group of young soldiers from El Paso were sent to Southern Italy on a tragic mission to cross the Rapido River. Amidst World War II, the river was heavily fortified by the German Army, making it what some historians describe as one of the most insurmountable missions of World War II. Tragically, the Men of Company E, now referred to as the Fallen Sons of El Paso, were either killed, captured or wounded in the attempt to cross a waterway under heavy artillery fire, saturated with barbed wire, and riddled with mines.

After World War II, Company E was assigned to be the new National Guard unit of Corpus Christi. “No other attempts were ever made by the Texas National Guard to create a unit similar to Company E,” Jorge Rodriguez said in his 2010 University of Texas at El Paso Master of History dissertation.

“It seemed that there was no longer a need to do so since so many Mexican-Americans had served honorably in integrated units in all branches of the military. Thus, Company E will always be known in history as the first and only distinctly MexicanAmerican unit to have served in the U.S. Army and military in general.” H