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Los Niños Heroes

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Military Personnel

The Resume

    Teenaged military cadets
    Died in the defense of Chapultepec Castle outside Mexico City during the Mexican-American War (September 13, 1847)
    Juan de la Barrera, age 19
    Juan Escutia, age between 15 and 19
    Francisco Marquez, age13
    Augustin Melgar, age between 15 and 19
    Fernando Montes de Oca, age between 15 and 19
    Vicente Suarez, age 14
    According to tradition, the last of the six jumped from the roof after wrapping himself in the Mexican flag to keep it from falling into American hands
    Honored with two monuments at Chapultepec, Obelisco a los Niños Heroes (1881) and Monumento a los Niños Heroes (1952)

Why he might be annoying:

    They disobeyed orders to retreat from their commander, Nicolas Bravo.
    The story of the last cadet wrapping himself in the flag and jumping first appeared in a poem written for the 1878 commemoration of the battle.
    Accounts differ on whether the cadet who sacrificed himself for the flag was Melgar or Escutia.
    If any cadet did jump off the roof with the Mexican flag to keep it out of the clutches of the Americans, it didn't work: the flag was displayed at West Point as a battle trophy for nearly a century before it was returned to Mexico.

Why he might not be annoying:

    They fought despite overwhelming odds.
    They are commemorated on each September 13 as Dia de los Niños Heroes.
    They were depicted on the 500-peso bank note (1987).
    During a state visit to Mexico, President Harry S Truman made an unscheduled stop at Chapultepec Castle and placed a wreath at their monument (March 5, 1947), a gesture later said to have done more to improve Mexico-US relations than any act by a US President in more than a century.
    Asked by reporters why he had gone, Truman replied, 'Brave men don't belong to any one country. I respect bravery wherever I see it.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying