LCC honors military veterans; launches
major restoration project for memorial chapel
Veteran’s Day was observed with a patriotic remembrance for military veterans at Laredo Community College, including the dedication of the Campus Chapel in memory of Laredo’s first Medal of Honor recipient and the announcement of a major restoration project for the centuries-old chapel.
The event—held on Thursday, Nov. 9 in front of the historic chapel on the west side of the main campus—included the posting of the colors by the AMEDDC&S Color Guard of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, the performance of the National Anthem and the reading of the Pledge of Allegiance.
LCC President and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Dr. Ramon H. Dovalina offered welcoming remarks to those who attended the observance.
Others who spoke included Ramiro Martinez, member of the L.C.C. Education Foundation, and Dr. Terry Colley, deputy executive director of the Texas Historical Commission. The event was sponsored by LCC and the L.C.C. Education Foundation.
The keynote address was delivered by Richard Noriega, a state representative from Houston and a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army National Guard. Noriega recently commanded the Guard troops in the Laredo Sector as part of the government’s current border security operation. He was recently re-elected without opposition for his fifth term in the Texas House of Representatives.
During the ceremony, members of the LCC Board of Trustees unveiled a plaque for the original fort chapel, named in memory of Private David B. Barkeley Cantu, a World War I hero, who was the nation’s first Hispanic and the first Laredoan to earn the Medal of Honor.
According to historical records, Barkeley was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during World War I in France. After completing a scouting mission behind enemy lines, he drowned on November 9, 1918 as he swam back across the Meuse River near Pouilly-sur-Meuse.
Barkeley was born on March 31, 1899 in Laredo to Josef and Antonia Cantu Barkeley, and grew up with his Mexican-American mother. Records indicate he enlisted in the U.S. Army when the U.S. entered World War I and used his Anglo father’s name to avoid being segregated into a non-combat unit.
Barkeley was one of only three Texans to receive the Medal of Honor for action during World War I. He also received the Croix de Guerre from France and the Croce al Merito di Guerra from Italy. Private Barkeley lay in state at the Alamo, the second person to ever receive this honor. He was then buried at the San Antonio National Cemetery.
During the ceremony, college officials announced the initiation of a $1.8 million restoration project for the memorial chapel.
The LCC main campus was once Fort McIntosh, a military installation that housed troops who served in the Civil War, the Mexican War and World Wars I and II.
The chapel, which was built in 1895 as a multi-denominational house of worship, has served as the college bookstore and library and most recently housed the Laredo Children’s Museum.
The chapel will undergo extensive exterior and interior renovation and plans call for turning it into a non-denominational chapel, with the capacity to serve also as an events center to host performances, lectures and other campus activities. It also will be available to use as a lecture hall for classroom instruction and as a meeting room for non-profit organizations.
The chapel already has received $150,000 from the Guadalupe and Lilia Martinez Foundation and college officials plan to seek more funding to support the restoration project.
Other ceremonial highlights included a performance of the Battle Hymn of the Republic by the LCC Mixed Choir and music by LCC’s drumline, the Laredo Grenadiers.
Laredo Community College Board of Trustees unveiled a plaque during the dedication of the Private David B. Barkeley Cantu Veterans Memorial Chapel Thursday, Nov. 9 in front of the original Fort McIntosh chapel. Among the trustees present were, from left, Board President Pete Saenz Jr., Board Vice President Cynthia Mares, Mercurio Martinez Jr. and Rene De La Viña.
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