Distinguished Veteran Awardee: Angel Mendez

Distinguished Veteran Awardee: Angel Mendez Student Name: Angel Ocasio De Jesus Veteran: Angel Mendez United States Marine Corps, Sergeant Navy Cross, 16 March 1967      Angel Mendez was a Puerto Rican-born Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. Mendez was born an August 8, 1946 to an Antonio Méndez Pomales, hailing from Fajardo, Puerto Rico, and Martina Rivera García, hailing from Naguabo, Puerto Rico. One of 8 children, Mendez and his family moved from Puerto Rico to New York City, New York in the Puerto Rican diaspora in an effort to build a better life. Angel Mendez and his siblings found themselves in foster homes and an orphanage on Staten Island after their mother became gravely ill and the family’s economic situation careened. It was in Staten Island that Mendez received his primary and secondary education, and where he enlisted in the Marine Corps.      Mendez volunteered to join the Marines in 1964 after graduating high...