Military medals delivered to Victor Valley Museum to honor fallen Army hero from Oro Grande

The quest to honor an Oro Grande Army hero's memory continues in the High Desert.

Nearly five years after a Purple Heart that belonged to Army Lt. Manuel Rodriguez was delivered to the Victor Valley Museum for display, another group of medals has arrived there.

Holding a flag display case filled with his uncle’s medals, Air Force veteran David Carrasco, 83, wept as he laid eyes on his uncle’s Purple Heart affixed to the wall inside the “Military in the Mojave” display room. The Apple Valley museum is operated by the County of San Bernardino.

“When I saw my uncle’s Purple Heart for the first time, I thought of how he sacrificed his life in World War II, during the Battle of Bataan in the Philippines,” Carrasco said. “I hope the medals that I brought will sit alongside his Purple Heart.”

Over the last 17 years, Rodriguez’s medals have their way to Carrasco through veteran organizations and individuals from across the U.S.

‘Stand as a tribute’

Carrasco’s wish is for his uncle’s medals to “stand as a tribute” to his uncle Manuel for “many generations to come.”

“I want people to come to this museum, to look at the medals and know that Army Lt. Manuel P. Rodriguez proudly served and died for his country,” said Carrasco, who traveled with his wife, Margie, from Phoenix to present the medals to museum staff on Sept. 20.

The museum exhibit also features Air Force Capt. Joseph McConnell Jr., who lived in Apple Valley.

Also attending the medal presentation event were Carrasco’s sister, Julia Logacz, and her husband, Laszlo, both from Rialto. Mohave Historical Society leadership, including President Marcy Taylor, Director Mike Phillips, Secretary Meera Maheswaran and member Joe Manners were at the presentation.

During the presentation, Carrasco and Manners shared a bit of history about Rodriguez, and Laszlo Logacz used a "digital" or “ceremonial” bugle that played Taps.

For decades, Manners has been the volunteer caretaker of the historic Oro Grande Cemetery, which includes a memorial plaque that pays tribute to Rodriguez.

The Oro Grande Cemetery, one of the oldest cemeteries in the Victor Valley area, was established in the 1890s and received its last internment in the mid-1960s. Ownership was transferred to San Bernardino County in the 1970s. It is designated by the State of California Office of Historic Preservation as a Point of Historic Interest.

Army Lt. Manuel Rodriguez

Rodriguez was born in Rosenberg, Texas, and spent his youth in Oro Grande before enlisting in the Army, where he joined the 89th Quartermaster Battalion as they fought the Japanese Imperial Army in the Philippians.

He had a troubled past before enlisting, according to those who knew him.

The plaque at the cemetery, placed there in 1975, reveals how Rodriguez was an “incorrigible” youth, who was accused of killing a night watchman who worked at the local mineral plant.

“Kenny Blum put up the memorial plaque along with his stepdad, Albert Padilla,” Manners said. “Mr. Chacon was the watchman who was killed and Manuel was found innocent when Chacon’s friend confessed that he killed him.”

At 20 years old, Rodriguez was killed in action on Jan. 16, 1942. His body remains buried overseas.

Bataan Death March

The Bataan Death March forced 60,000 to 80,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war to march through the Philippines. The route was about 65 miles long and stretched from the peninsula to the railhead inland, according to The National WWII Museum.

The Bataan Death March is remembered as a tragedy. The prisoners of war were forced to march through tropical conditions, enduring heat, humidity, and rain without adequate medical care. They suffered from starvation and slept in harsh conditions. The prisoners unable to make it through the march were beaten, killed, and sometimes beheaded.

As many as 11,000 of the prisoners of war died on the death march.

Rodriguez received the Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Defense Ribbon, Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Badge and Marksmanship Badge.

Manners said Rodriguez was a “troubled” youth from Oro Grande who ended up “sacrificing his life for his country.”

Carrasco admitted that he never knew his uncle existed until his brother, Lupe, told him in 1996. The discovery left him "dumbfounded," he said.

“The more I read about him, the more I knew that I had to do something,” said Carrasco, who did two tours of Vietnam during his 20 years with the Air Force. “The more I found out about him, the more emotional I became.”

Purple Heart

In 2018, the late Army veteran Felix Diaz, 83, was given Rodriguez’s Purple Heart.

Diaz had previously written about Rodriguez in his book "Footprints from the Barrio" and immediately began searching to make sure the Purple Heart ended up in good hands.

“I’d like Rodriguez’s Purple Heart to go to a World War II museum in California or somewhere else in the country,” Diaz said. “That man was a hero who grew up here in Oro Grande and spilled his blood for his country halfway around the world.”

Former Victor Valley Museum Director Melissa Russo told the Daily Press in 2018 that the museum would “gladly receive” and display Rodriguez’s Purple Heart.

The story of Rodriguez’s Purple Heart began around 2013 when residents found the medal in the desert field behind the cemetery and brought it to Manners.

Manners told the residents to give the medal to Adelanto Veterans of Foreign Wars member and Navy veteran George Salazar, who organized several Memorial Day ceremonies with Diaz at the Oro Grande Cemetery.

Salazar framed the Purple Heart and placed it in the Adelanto Veteran of Foreign Wars. When the organization closed, he probably took home the medal for safekeeping until he died around 2016, Manner said.

“That’s when the Purple Heart ended up with George’s family,” Manners said.

Salazar’s daughter and granddaughter gave Diaz the Purple Heart that belonged to Rodriguez, who is also remembered on a plaque on the Philippine island of Luzon.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Medals delivered to Victor Valley Museum to honor fallen Army hero