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A ceremony was held on Saturday honoring 13 young Marines from the Rio Grande Valley who were captured in an iconic photo of a 1943 swearing-in ceremony.
On a windy rooftop Saturday afternoon atop the Bedell/Ayres building downtown, participants gathered to honor the memory of 13 young Marines from the Rio Grande Valley who took their oath in 1943 atop the building that served as the United States Marine Corps induction center at 118 Broadway.
Dennis Blocker with the nonprofit Conservators of the Greatest Generation spearheaded the event and pieced together the history of the photo taken on the rooftop. Blocker used clues from the 1943 rooftop photo to identify the downtown building where it was taken.
“They would ascend the stairs and they would go to the rooftop beside the flagpole and take their oath of enlistment and that was the moment captured on the photograph that led to this event," Blocker told TPR.
Retired JROTC Col. Eloy Cuevas of Weslaco addressed the crowd. He spoke about the so-called Weslaco Eight, a group of eight Weslaco High School football teammates who were included in the photo.
“When we speak of their legacy today we honor more than their uniforms; we honor their character, courage in moments of war and moments of fear," he told the crowd.
Among the Weslaco Eight was Harlan Block, who was one of the Marines captured in the iconic photo of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima.
The ceremony was attended by military, state, county, and city leaders along with family members of some of the original inductees and veterans from all branches of the military.
Three historic plaques were unveiled during the ceremony, and official proclamations were read from the state, county, and the city of San Antonio
A reception was held after the ceremony featuring big band music performed by the Taft High School Jazz Band.
