Rachel Cabrera Sanchez, left, and sister Alma Cabrera Garcia flank a picture of their late father and a wreath placed in honor of Private Emilio Garza Cabrera, who was awarded the Purple Heart Medal at a ceremony held at the Kleberg County Veteran’s Memorial this Saturday. Pvt. Cabrera was killed in Germany on Nov. 24, 1944. (Photo by Rey Sifuentes) By Rey Sifuentes Jr.

Almost 65 years after he was killed while fighting in World War II, the daughters of Private Emilio Garza Cabrera received the Purple Heart Medal their father earned defending this country during a ceremony held at the Kleberg County Veterans Memorial Saturday.

“This means the world to me,” Alma Cabrera Garcia, now 69, said afterwards.

“It is so great that so many people showed up; the weather was perfect, and it means a lot to my sister and I in honoring my father Emilio, who I do not remember that well because I was so little (three years old) when he was killed.”

Alma’s sister, Rachel Cabrera Sanchez who is 71, echoed those sentiments.

“It is so wonderful that we finally did this for my dad and I am very thankful to everybody,” Sanchez said. “My aunts really worked hard to get this together and I thank everyone. He (Emilio) was killed on November 24, 1944 and I turned six the next day. I just remember he was a good man, I may not remember much but the little things I do remind me that he was a loving father.”

Master of ceremonies Dr. Eduardo Cabrera presented a summarized history of Emilio’s life and military service.

Born on October 9, 1914, Cabrera was the second son consisting of a family of six brothers and four sisters.

A sickly child, Cabrera’s parents left him with his grandmother and an aunt to care for him while the rest of the family made a living working the fields.

After graduating high school in 1937, Cabrera married Maclovia Otilia Quintero and daughter Rachel was born in 1938. Mrs. Cabrera gave birth to Alma in 1940.

Cabrera’s military service lasted about ten months. Completing basic training on February 14, 1944, Cabrera soon joined the 116th Infantry as a rifleman on the first squad of the first platoon.

Arriving with his platoon to Scotland on October 5, 1944, Cabrera’s squad quickly moved to southern England where they received amphibious training in preparation for the anticipated invasion of France.

The 116th crossed the English Channel on June 6, 1944 and attacked enemy forces on Omaha Beach. Met by heavy German gunfire, the 116th - along with other regiments - prevailed despite 341 total company casualties.

Cabrera’s infantry continued fighting its way through the Normandy countryside for five weeks in western France and finally liberated the strategic city of St. Lo on July 18, 1944.

As allied forces assaulted vital ports in August, the 116th - along with the 29th infantry Division - were tasked with capturing the city of Brest and a German city garrisoning it. The final enemy defenders surrendered almost a month later and Cabrera’s infantry shifted their attention to the Siegfried Line in northern France and Germany.

Cabrera’s infantry attacked the town of Koslar Germany on November 24, 1944 and were met by heavy resistance. It was in this battle that Cabrera was killed.

Shortly afterwards, Cabrera was buried - alongside his fallen comrades with full military honors - at the American Military Cemetery in Margraten Holland. A United States Army Chaplin performed the Catholic services.

Cabrera’s father, Brigido, requested that the remains of his son be transferred to Fort Sam Houston National cemetery on June 10, 1949.

His two daughters stayed at Emilio’s brother’s house in San Antonio the night before he was to be buried at Fort Sam Houston.

Mrs. Cabrera made the two girls matching outfits to attend their father’s funeral; a vest, skirt and blouse made of black and white stripes.

Keynote Speaker Juan M. Escobar, a veteran of Vietnam, emphasized Cabrera’s ties to the area.

“On November 24, 1944, the Germans counterattacked with heavy artillery, inflicting heavy casualties on the Americans,” Escobar said.

“It was in this battle that Private Emilio Cabrera, a brave American soldier of Kleberg County whose family is here today, lost his life.”

Escobar went on expressing the dedication of American soldiers.

“To those of our men who have died we salute them because they shared our fears and our hardships, because warfare decrees that some men must fall, they have to die,” Escobar said.

“Because of their death we have lived to gain our objective and we salute them proudly.

They were our men and our soldiers of the 29th Infantry Division.”

The nightmarish inferno that is war, Escobar said, brings even those who do not believe in God to their knees.

“If you do not know how to pray, you learn when you go to war,” Escobar said. “When you start losing faith in ever making it home, you learn to place your faith in God. El mexicano como la vena verde, le pegan y le pegan pero nunca se raja.”

Escobar punctuated his emotional speech by pointing out how all American citizens are indebted to their soldiers.

“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press,” Escobar said.

“It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the politician, who ensures our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag,” Escobar, himself a double Purple Heart honoree, said.

After Escobar’s speech, Cabrera’s daughter’ — along with other family members — placed roses in a vase positioned right next to a portrait of their father.

After a wreath was placed, Alma and Rachel received a folded American flag and the Purple Heart Medal from Francisco Guerra, a representative from the office of Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz.