26-05-2025
Mendota still remembers its fallen 50 years after end of Vietnam War
The Rolling Stones were flying high in November 1965 with the No. 1 hit 'Get Off My Cloud.' That was when Jesús Rojas Bermúdez, a 23-year-old draftee from Mendota lost his life in Vietnam.
In August 1971, the Bee Gees were at the top of the charts with 'How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.' That is when Sgt. F.C. Loy Wendell Pierce, also of Mendota, was killed in action in Vietnam.
They were the first and last soldiers from Fresno County to die in Vietnam. A total of 146 men from the county were among the 58,220 U.S. service members who died in the 17-year conflict that ended in 1975.
I was in the next-to-last group of potential draftees when the U.S. Selective Service drew from among 366 blue, plastic capsules containing birth dates to determine who would be drafted. My number was 52, and I was never called.
Every Memorial Day — as well as Veterans Day — I think back to what would have happened had I been drafted. Many of my older friends got notified to report. Some never came back. I have cousins who served in Vietnam and returned different people, deeply changed by the experience.
Rojas Bermúdez got called. Pierce enlisted.
The Jan. 24, 1973 report by Howard Miller in The Fresno Bee sums it up best:
'The long nightmare that was Vietnam is over for America's uniformed forces and most of those who served have quietly slipped back into civilian life. No parades, no speeches, no big deal.
'Whether it was worth the terrible price only history can judge.'
Rojas Bermúdez, who hailed from Zacatecas, México, died during a search-and-destroy mission with the 1st Calvary Division on Nov. 1, 1965.
Pierce, who was born in Firebaugh and raised in Mendota, was also a member of the 1st Calvary when he was killed on Aug. 14, 1971 while leading a platoon on patrol. Both died from explosions.
Mendota, whose population grew from about 2,000 in 1960 to 2,700 in 1970, takes pride in its military members, said longtime City Councilmember Joseph 'Joey' Amador.
'I was born in Mendota, in this city,' Amador told me. 'That is why I take so much pride in our history and those who served in the military. We take pride in that.'
That pride is a big reason the city decided to rename Mendota City Park in their honor in 1973. Today, Rojas-Pierce Park is heavily used by its 12,500 residents.
'We take pride that our people gave to this country and served this country,' Amador said. 'They gave their lives to make this a better place for us.'
The 21-acre park features soccer, baseball and softball fields. It includes basketball courts, a skate park and a splash park that comes in handy in the summer months. A pavilion, which hosted lucha libre wrestling during Cinco de Mayo, was added in 2008.
The park on the western side of the city also has a playground for disabled children.
I attended a 2008 rededication of Rojas-Pierce Park when the pavilion was added. Among those present was Norberto Rojas, the father of the slain soldier.
'I wanted to send him to México,' Rojas said, who died recently at the age of 105. 'But he said he wanted to stay and serve in the Army.'
Stella Rojas, who was 10 when her brother was killed, said the family was picking crops in Paicines near Hollister when they got word of his death.
'It was a sad ride home,' she said. At least her brother had paid an unexpected visit home after Army training before heading to Vietnam.
Then-Mayor Robert Silva was in Army training with Rojas at Fort Lewis, Washington. He recalled running into Rojas at a Mexican restaurant and chatting with him during an unexpected encounter.
'I remember him telling me he was going to Vietnam,' said Silva, who died in 2020. 'I told him, 'Good luck and I'll see you in Mendota.''
Jesús Rojas never made it back alive.
Neither did Pierce.
However, the rural community they called home never forgot them.
We shouldn't forget them, nor the men and women who sacrificed their lives protecting us.
