Post by neferetus on Jan 20, 2008 16:41:42 GMT -5
Everyone has their own particular reason. Why do you remember the Alamo? Over on thealamofilm site, people have been tip toeing around the reason. Here's my response to all the fence sitters:
Up until San Jacinto, the Texians had pretty much played by the rules. While it was a Mexican mandate that no prisoners be taken, at no time during the course of the Texian revolution did the Mexican army itself ever live in fear of total annihilation. When Cos surrendered up San Antonio and the Alamo were his men promised generous terms and then taken out later and butchered? No they were not. The generous terms were genuine and the Texians bent over backwards to aid the Mexicans in their retreat from Texas. Wounded soldados that could not be transported were well taken care of. The Mexicans even got arms and ammunition to protect themselves against maruding Indian tribes. All Cos had to do was swear on his honor that he would nevermore take up arms against Texas.
At the Alamo, the Texians were expecting to be treated in like manner. They were not. No one was allowed to live, no matter how sick or wounded they were. Even Dr. Pollard was butchered while tending to his wounded.
At Goliad, the Texians were lied to. Promised they would be spared and then sent back home, they were instead marched out and butchered. Even the wounded and sick in the Presidio La Bahia were slaughtered. This was vile treachery at its worst.
By the time San Jacinto rolled around, the Texians were fighting mad. Off came the kid gloves. Out went the Marquess of Queensbury rules. Since the Mexicans enjoyed butchery so much, the Texians were there to oblige them. The Mexicans knew what this was all about and only put up a half-hearted fight. They knew that they had been bad boys and that now, this was payback time.
Yet, in spite of the butchery by Texians at San Jacinto, there were still somehow Mexican prisoners taken and wounded tended to. Had Santa Anna been victorious that day, not a single Texian would've been spared.
While Santa Anna and his officers may've felt they had the legal right to do what they did at the Alamo and Goliad, I still stipulate that the Texians at least held the moral high ground during the course of the revolution. When the choice comes between following the letter of the law or doing what is morally right, this decision separates the just from the unjust. In 1836, the Mexican army of occupation simply had no morals. There's no sense in trying to sugar coat it to assuage the feelings of the growing number of Mexicans in Texas today. And I think it's a slap in the face to the memory of the Alamo heroes that the Mexican army is actually being honored on Alamo Plaza during High Holy Days. We might as well honor the Japanese veterans of WWII who participated in the Bataan Death March, because, after all, time heals all wounds and all men are brothers. Bunk. History is wrought with evil that time should never ever be able to erase. And, while I hate having to fall back upon this well-worn phrase, "those who deny history are doomed to relive it."
The reason we remember the Alamo today (or should) is that a couple of hundred Texians chose to stand up to a dictator and paid for it with their lives. At the time of the battle, it was a shock for both the citizens of Texas and the U.S. to hear that the entire garrison had been massacred. This was, after all, a new age when nations and their armies simply did not follow such a barbaric code.
Had the Alamo been captured by the Mexican army with say, 100 prisoners taken and then released back to the United States in defeat, do you think we would remember the Alamo in quite the same way today? It is the fact that they faced possible annihilation and yet stood tall anyway, ultimately going to their death at the hands of an amoral brute like Santa Anna, that we remember them. The world must continue to stand up to its Santa Annas and not just close its eyes to them and then hope they will go away. Already, there are people who are actually tired of hearing about 9/11 and who wish we would all just put it behind us and move on, because it's inconvenient and upsets folks at the dinner table. My only response to that is, God help us if we should ever forget our Alamos and Pearl Harbors and 9/11s.
Up until San Jacinto, the Texians had pretty much played by the rules. While it was a Mexican mandate that no prisoners be taken, at no time during the course of the Texian revolution did the Mexican army itself ever live in fear of total annihilation. When Cos surrendered up San Antonio and the Alamo were his men promised generous terms and then taken out later and butchered? No they were not. The generous terms were genuine and the Texians bent over backwards to aid the Mexicans in their retreat from Texas. Wounded soldados that could not be transported were well taken care of. The Mexicans even got arms and ammunition to protect themselves against maruding Indian tribes. All Cos had to do was swear on his honor that he would nevermore take up arms against Texas.
At the Alamo, the Texians were expecting to be treated in like manner. They were not. No one was allowed to live, no matter how sick or wounded they were. Even Dr. Pollard was butchered while tending to his wounded.
At Goliad, the Texians were lied to. Promised they would be spared and then sent back home, they were instead marched out and butchered. Even the wounded and sick in the Presidio La Bahia were slaughtered. This was vile treachery at its worst.
By the time San Jacinto rolled around, the Texians were fighting mad. Off came the kid gloves. Out went the Marquess of Queensbury rules. Since the Mexicans enjoyed butchery so much, the Texians were there to oblige them. The Mexicans knew what this was all about and only put up a half-hearted fight. They knew that they had been bad boys and that now, this was payback time.
Yet, in spite of the butchery by Texians at San Jacinto, there were still somehow Mexican prisoners taken and wounded tended to. Had Santa Anna been victorious that day, not a single Texian would've been spared.
While Santa Anna and his officers may've felt they had the legal right to do what they did at the Alamo and Goliad, I still stipulate that the Texians at least held the moral high ground during the course of the revolution. When the choice comes between following the letter of the law or doing what is morally right, this decision separates the just from the unjust. In 1836, the Mexican army of occupation simply had no morals. There's no sense in trying to sugar coat it to assuage the feelings of the growing number of Mexicans in Texas today. And I think it's a slap in the face to the memory of the Alamo heroes that the Mexican army is actually being honored on Alamo Plaza during High Holy Days. We might as well honor the Japanese veterans of WWII who participated in the Bataan Death March, because, after all, time heals all wounds and all men are brothers. Bunk. History is wrought with evil that time should never ever be able to erase. And, while I hate having to fall back upon this well-worn phrase, "those who deny history are doomed to relive it."
The reason we remember the Alamo today (or should) is that a couple of hundred Texians chose to stand up to a dictator and paid for it with their lives. At the time of the battle, it was a shock for both the citizens of Texas and the U.S. to hear that the entire garrison had been massacred. This was, after all, a new age when nations and their armies simply did not follow such a barbaric code.
Had the Alamo been captured by the Mexican army with say, 100 prisoners taken and then released back to the United States in defeat, do you think we would remember the Alamo in quite the same way today? It is the fact that they faced possible annihilation and yet stood tall anyway, ultimately going to their death at the hands of an amoral brute like Santa Anna, that we remember them. The world must continue to stand up to its Santa Annas and not just close its eyes to them and then hope they will go away. Already, there are people who are actually tired of hearing about 9/11 and who wish we would all just put it behind us and move on, because it's inconvenient and upsets folks at the dinner table. My only response to that is, God help us if we should ever forget our Alamos and Pearl Harbors and 9/11s.