Alondra Melendez

3A Huma 1100
Family Military History
In my family Im the first for many things, for example; female
granddaughter, high school graduate, and musician. Often I am the example for the
younger kids. I am the second oldest grandchild. One thing I know for sure that I
wont be the first in is going to military. My family doesnt have much of any military
history. I asked my grandpa about our military history and he wasnt sure what I
meant. I explained that I wanted to know if I had any relatives in any sort of armed
force.
My grandpa is in his70s and he likes to go on tangents about different things,
without generally answering the question with a straight answer. He proceeded to
tell me that his great uncle and great grandpa were part of the Mexican
Revolutionary war on Francisco Pancho Villas side. He said that they were both
close friends of Villa, who was one of the big leaders during the time of the
rebellion. They fought along him in order to free the people from the tyrannous
government.
Everyone was part of the Mexican Revolutionary war because it was
essentially their Civil War. They didnt like the way the government favored the
upper class so they revolted. I used to think that the fact that my great-great uncle
was part of a Revolution was cool, until I figured out that it was just the civil war.
According to my grandpa, when Villa was caught, the two brothers split up
and went in different directions. One fled to America and settled somewhere in
California, while the other brother went to Istapalapa, Mexico. Living in a
completely different country than my family is hard. I have a lot of family in Mexico
but I only know my closest relatives after my immediate family. I am aware that we
have family in Istapalapa but Ive never met them, my grandpa has.
I am a lot like my grandpa in many ways, one of them being that I dont give
a straight answer. My family does not have any formal military history, but we did
have relatives fight in the Mexican Revolutionary War of 1910. I am sure that we can
trace my mestizo heritage back to different warriors such as Aztec and maybe even
Spanish conquistadors, but we do not have any such records.