Héctor P. García
Héctor Pérez García (January 17, 1914 – July 26, 1996) was a Mexican-American physician, surgeon, World War II veteran, civil rights advocate, and founder of the American GI Forum (AGIF). As a result of the national prominence he earned through his work on behalf of Hispanic Americans, he was instrumental in the appointment of Vicente T. Ximenes, a Mexican American and AGIF charter member, to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1966.
Héctor Perez García | |
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Héctor P. García in 1976 | |
| Born | January 17, 1914 Llera, Tamaulipas, Mexico |
| Died | July 26, 1996 (aged 82) Corpus Christi, Texas, United States |
| Resting place | Seaside Funeral Home & Memorial Park, Corpus Christi, Texas |
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| Known for | American GI Forum |
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Wanda Fusillo (m. 1945) |
| Children | 4 Daisy Wanda, Héctor, Jr, Adriana Cecilia, Susanna Patricia |
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García was named as alternate representative to the United Nations in 1967; was appointed to the US Commission on Civil Rights in 1968; was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in 1984; and was named to the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope John Paul II in 1990. In 1998, he was posthumously given the Order of the Aztec Eagle, Mexico's highest award for foreigners, in a ceremony in Corpus Christi.