In the Civil War battle that preserved the Union, Corporal Joseph H. de Castro became the first Latino recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Since Corporal de Castro's bravery under fire, 43 Latinos have received our nation's highest honor, 25 posthumously.
Today, the sacrifice of these heroes, and the bravery of over 1.1 million Latino veterans of our armed forces, is being dishonored by a vile act of blatant voter suppression.
A right wing TV attack ad by Republican operative Robert Desposada cynically urges Latinos to not vote in the November 2 election as retaliation against Democrats -- never mentioning that it was Republicans who have filibustered immigration reform countless times, most recently against the DREAM act which would provide a path to citizenship for students pursuing a college education.
Regardless of what you think about individual candidates or parties, these 43 Latino Medal of Honor recipients and every Latino veteran and serving member of our armed forces offer personal testimony to the importance of voting.
To every Latino home where a folded American flag is a sad reminder of the ultimate sacrifice paid on the field of battle, there will be only one response to Desposada's Latino voter suppression ad: ¡Basta Ya!
On November 2nd our community will vote in record numbers for Congressional Democrats to stop the outsourcing of our jobs, protect Social Security from Wall Street scams, and pass comprehensive immigration reform.
The Latino community knows who's on our side -- and it's not the Tea Party GOP.