Memorial Day is a rough day for the families of veterans who lost their lives fighting for freedom.
For two Taylor residents, this Memorial Day will be a little more difficult than others. Sisters Pat Alderete and Belinda Nira-Munoz made a shocking discovery last week when they discovered that the plate on their father’s tombstone at Our Lady of Guadalupe Cemetery was removed and reportedly stolen.
“It was like I lost my dad all over again,” Nira-Munoz said. “That wasn’t just a plaque. It was his blood, sweat and tears.”
Their father, Conrado Villa Nira, was an Army veteran of World War II and the Korea War. He died in 2016.
“My husband and I came up here May 19 around 6:30 p.m. and when I turned around, I saw the plate was gone,” Alderete said. “I was very upset, and I called Belinda and let her know. It’s very upsetting. It’s like he died all over again. We have no idea who could’ve done this.”
Nira-Munoz described her reaction to the news she received from her sister.
“Pat called me, and I cried all the way to the cemetery,” she said. “I tried to drive there, but we stopped on Main Street and my husband drove the rest of the way.”
Following the shocking discovery, Nira-Munoz contacted the Taylor Police Department, which was still investigating the incident at press time. Alderete’s daughter, Araceli, posted about the incident on social media.
“We have gotten calls from people who we don’t even know,” Alderete said. “Once you put it on Facebook, it spreads like wildfire. People who we don’t know are reaching out to give us donations.”
Family friend Librado Luna actually saw the missing tombstone plate on May 12. However, he was unable to get in touch with Alderete or Nira-Munoz to inform them of his discovery.
“I visited graves on Mother’s Day, and the plate was still there. But when I came back the next morning, it was gone,” Luna said. “I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t know if the cops would investigate something like this. I also didn’t have their phone numbers.”
According to Alderete, the day Luna discovered the missing tombstone plate was the nine-year anniversary of her father’s death – May 12, 2016. Luna has faith that the person(s) responsible for the vandalism on Nira’s tombstone and other tombstones in the cemetery will “pay for what they did.”
Alderete described her father as a “very proud veteran.” She also said that he was a man of few words.
“He flew his Purple Heart flag proudly,” Alderete said. “Dad was very quiet. He’d come home from work and Mom wouldn’t hear him come in. He watched TV on mute and in the dark. He never missed church on Sundays either.”
Nira-Munoz said one thing that makes this incident painful is remembering the stories her father told them of his war days. She fought back tears while describing it.
“My dad had some stories that he couldn’t finish because talking about them traumatized him. Nobody knows the stories that we know,” Nira-Munoz said. “He was 17 and they took him off of a dairy farm in Hondo, sent him overseas and handed him a gun. He was told to use that gun to kill the enemy in a foreign country.”
Like Alderete, Nira-Munoz also has fond memories of her father. She also has faith that justice will be served in the midst of this incident.
“His favorite TV show was M*A*S*H. Dad never complained about the food that Mom cooked because there were days that he went without food when he was at war,” Nira-Munoz said. “God knows what will happen (with this situation). We put our faith in him.”
