UT exhibit honors life of Roy Benavidez

Remembering Her Dad Denise Benavidez Prochazka speaks to the audience at a Friday reception as she stands in front of a portion of a University of Texas exhibit honoring her late father, Medal of Honor recipient Master Sgt. Roy P. Benavidez. The exhibition, which continues through the end of May, includes selection from Benavidez' papers and other items belonging to the late El Campo resident. The Benavidez family donated his papers to the UT Center for American History's Institute for Studies in American Military History in 2007. L-N Photo by Chris Barbee

The life of Medal of Honor recipient Master Sgt. Roy P. Benavidez is honored in Benavidez: Forty Years Later, an exhibit at the Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin.

The exhibit, featuring selections from the Benavidez papers and his Congressional and Texas Legislative Medals of Honor, is on display now through May 30 in the Center's reading room at Sid Richardson Hall, Unit 2.

Benavidez received the Medal of Honor for heroism in the Vietnam War for a daring voluntary May 2, 1968 rescue in the jungles of Cambodia, west of Loc Ninh, Vietnam. Benavidez promptly received the Distinguished Service Cross, but President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Medal of Honor in 1981 after the full story of his actions emerged.

"We're grateful to the family for choosing The University of Texas as the repository for Roy Benavidez's papers," Dr. Thomas M. Hatfield, head of the Center's Institute for Studies in American Military History, said.

"It is a significant collection for students of military history and for those interested in the histories of Hispanic and Native American Texans. The Benavidez Collection is indispensable to our emphasis on the contributions of Texas to America's military heritage," Hatfield added.

Cynthia DuBois, Ph.D., assistant director for education at The Center, is currently working on a curriculum guide to assist teachers interested in teaching history using the story of Benavidez.

The activities included in the guide will teach middle school age students (seventh grade reading level) how to use primary source documents to learn about history incorporating photos and documents from the Benavidez papers, DuBois said.

"It is an honor for the Benavidez family to have our father's papers and important documents housed at the Center for American History," said Yvette Benavidez Garcia, one of two Benavidez daughters.

Benavidez's wife Lala attended the reception, as did Denise Benavidez Prochazka, Garcia, son Noel Benavidez, and their families.

"It is especially an honor for me, as I am a 1993 graduate of UT Austin. This exhibit is important to our family because we want to share our father's documents. We know that the Center is widely used by those who are researching icons in American history, and now my father's documents, and all that he accomplished in his life, are available for all to use," Garcia said.

"Dad's papers could have been stored at the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University, West Point Military Academy or even the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum in South Carolina, but we selected UT because it is Yvette's alma mater, and because of the Center's commitment to educating current and future generations on military history. It will allow the Texas public the opportunity to learn more about a man who traveled on behalf of civic and military organizations to stress the importance of staying in school and getting an education," Noel Benavidez said.

Hatfield gave opening remarks, and Gen. Donald G. Cook, USAF (Ret.), read Benavidez's citation, the official account of what took place on May 2, 1968.

Also addressing the audience were both Benavidez daughters, El Campo Leader-News Publisher Chris Barbee, and Jose Garcia, a retired Air Force master sergeant and friend of Benavidez.

The Benavidez family donated his papers to the Center's Institute for Studies in American Military History in 2007. Notable material in the Benavidez collection includes speeches, photographs and numerous papers documenting his actions in Vietnam and his 20 years in the Army, and his 1983 testimony on Capitol Hill convincing Congressional leaders to veto reductions in Social Security benefits for veterans.

Steve Sucher, news editor of the El Campo Leader-News when Benavidez received the MOH, was instrumental in putting Hatfield and The Center in contact with the Benavidez family.

Benavidez died Nov. 28, 1998 in San Antonio. Three elementary schools in Texas, a park in Colorado and the naval ship USNS Benavidez, homeported in Corpus Christi, have been named in his honor. In 2001, the Texas Legislature honored Benavidez with the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor, and the Hasbro toy company released the Roy P. Benavidez G.I. Joe action figure, the first G.I. Joe to portray a soldier of Hispanic heritage.