SAN MARCOS, Texas — A four-mile stretch of Highway in San Marcos now pays tribute to a soldier’s sacrifice.
A roadside marker was unveiled Tuesday afternoon at the start of the Private First Class Kristian Menchaca Memorial Highway, and hundreds took time to pay tribute, including officials from nearby counties, Gary Job Corps leaders and dozens of cadets.
A letter from Congressman Lloyd Doggett was also read during the ceremony.
PFC Menchaca paid the ultimate sacrifice when he was killed in Iraq in 2006; the loss from 14 years ago still stings today.
News of his brutal capture and slaying hit the San Marcos community just as hard as it did in Menchaca’s birth place in Houston and his family’s home in Brownsville.
He attended the Gary Job Corps Center in San Marcos before his military deployment.
“We also want to pay tribute to those whose lives are lost and we want to be able to commemorate them and honor them,” said JD McDonald, the BCL director for Gary Job Corps.
Strangers and friends of the hero are determined to keep his legacy alive.
One way they’re doing so is by dedicating a section of SH-21 in his honor.
In San Marcos, from SH-80 to Yarrington road, drivers are now traveling along Private First Class Kristian Menchaca Memorial Highway.
“Every day that you drive by, give a silent prayer not just for what this young man did but for his family…for our students and our soldiers that are in the military and our retired soldiers,” said Lorraine Lane, executive director of Gary Job Corps.
Lawrence Wilson, a retired Army Command sergeant major, and his wife drove in from Killeen to take part in the unveiling ceremony.
Wilson served with Menchaca a few years before the hero lost his life.
“Past, present and future—this country has the freedom and the tradition and the pride that it has because of young men like Kristian Menchaca,” Wilson said.
Several years of work by Gary Job Corps, along with leaders from Hays and Caldwell counties, resulted in the special tribute. Multiple donations were also required.
All of the effort is in hope to spread a hero’s story and keep his legacy alive.