REMEMBER THE SACRIFICE

Hays County Commissioners Court presented a proclamation in Kristian Menchaca’s honor to commemorate the 18th anniversary of his death.
Photo provided by Hays County

Pvt. 1st Class Kristian Menchaca

REMEMBER THE SACRIFICE

The 18th anniversary of the death of U.S. Army Pvt. Kristian Menchaca, a Hays County resident, during the war in Iraq occurred recently, and one man has made it his mission to keep his memory alive. Randolph Goodman, Gary Job Corps community relations coordinator, knew Menchaca well being a student at Gary Job Corps before his deployment. Goodman has spearheaded a yearly Hays County Commissioners Court proclamation and the designation of a portion of State Highway 21 between Highway 80 and Yarrington Road in Menchaca’s name.

Goodman said there are many reasons that compel him to honor Menchaca and others that have lost their lives in service to our country and some of them can be attributed to the word of God. He read Isaiah 6:8 from his handwritten notes, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here I am. Send me.’” In addition to the word of God as a motivating factor for preserving Menchaca’s memory, Goodman himself is a veteran having served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. He knows all too well the trials faced by those with their boots on the ground.

“I was on the back of a river boat, and it was raining on me. And the mosquitoes were chewing me all up. And then I was thinking, ‘What in the hell am I doing?,’” Goodman said. “It takes that individual to say, ‘send me.’ And that’s what Kristian did. I wouldn’t be surprised if he volunteered for that guard post [from which he was taken as a prisoner of war].”

There is another bible verse that Goodman said highlights the love of country and the selflessness behind the sacrifice made by service members who have lost their lives fighting for our country. John 15:13, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

When Goodman made it his mission to have a memorial highway designated in Menchaca’s name, the only obstacle was a $5,000 fee. He started by going to Hays County, which provided some of the funding. Caldwell Commissioners Court and the local VFW contributed as well. He also received some funding from Ruben Garza, who is now deceased but was previously the Southside Community Center executive director. And when he was close to reaching his goal, what can only be referred to as kismet occurred at the VFW in Kyle.

“There was a Command Sgt. who had just retired from the army. He was up in Fort Hood, and he was a friend of Lisa Adams, who runs the Hats Off for Veterans. Lisa introduced me to this command sergeant major, and then I was telling him about Kristian. Then he said, ‘Kristian was one of my soldiers,’” Goodman said. “And then he got up and he added color to the picture, and he talked about Kristian as a soldier, and he talked about what really happened when he was taken because he had to go and identify the bodies. And he said they were so disfigured that it was the DNA and the name on uniforms [that allowed for identification].”

Goodman said that Command Sgt. donated money and was instrumental in raising the final $1,000 to reach the $5,000 goal.

According to this year’s Hays County Commissioners Court proclamation, before enlisting in the Army, Kristian Menchaca furthered his education by attending the Gary Job Corps Center in San Marcos, from Sept. 2004 to Feb. 2005, earning a GED certificate and completing the security officer program.

“In 2006 while assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Pvt. Menchaca was killed following an insurgent attack on a U.S. Army checkpoint south of Baghdad, Iraq and was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Prisoner of War medals,” the proclamation stated. “Willing to lay down their lives in the service of their fellow citizens, the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces demonstrate exceptional courage, honor and love of country, and time can never diminish the profound debt that all Americans owe to Kristian Menchaca for the challenge he undertook and the immense sacrifice he rendered.”

Previous Daily Record coverage gave insight into the details of what happened to Menchaca. During an insurgent attack on a checkpoint south of Baghdad on June 16, 2006, one soldier, Spec. David J. Babineau was killed in action, and Pvt. 1st Class Thomas L. Tucker and Menchaca were taken prisoner by the Mujahedeen Shura Council. According to the U.S. Army, both Tucker and Menchaca were brutally tortured and their bodies were dragged behind a truck in an Iraqi village.

During commissioners court, Jude Prather, Hays County Veterans Services office director, said that Menchaca was the only prisoner of war of the post 9/11 wars from Hays County.

“Just down the road is the Hays County Memorial, and you’ll find his name along with other names,” Prather said. “Each one of those names has a story that’s part of the deep history of Hays County.”