County remembers local hero: Kristian Menchaca

For those who knew U.S. Army Pvt. 1st Class Kristian Menchaca personally, it is nearly impossible to believe he has been gone for 17 years.

Last week, Hays County Commissioners Court Judge Ruben Becerra and county commissioners came together to issue a proclamation commemorating the anniversary of the death of Menchaca, a Brownsville native, who was kidnapped, tortured and killed while serving his nation in Iraq.

After joining the U.S. Army, he was assigned overseas and in June 2006, was part of the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division in Iraq. During an insurgent attack on a checkpoint south of Baghdad on June 16, 2006, one soldier, Spec. David J. Babineau, 25, was killed in action, and Pvt. 1st Class Thomas L. Tucker, 25, and Menchaca, 23, who both had been manning the observation checkpoint, were taken prisoner by the Mujahedeen Shura Council. Both Tucker and Menchaca, according to the U.S. Army, were brutally tortured and their bodies were dragged behind a truck in an Iraqi village. Destructive weapons were attached to their bodies which made it difficult for Army personnel to recover them sometime during or shortly after June 20.

Menchaca was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and Prisoner of War medals.

Before his Army service, Menchaca had actively sought to gain an education. According to Randolph Goodman, business engagement liaison and apprenticeship coordinator for the Gary Jobs Corps Center, Menchaca attended the center September 2004 to February 2005, earning a GED certificate and completing the Security Officer program.

With an emotional voice, Goodman recalled watching the young Menchaca become a force for positive change among his fellow cadets, inspiring all with whom he came in contact during his time with the Gary Job Corps.

Goodman said he gave more than others, volunteering “his time and talents” locally, especially at the Sights and Sounds of Christmas.

To honor his memory, in 2019, Hays County designated part of SH 21 between SH 80 and Yarrington Road as the “PFC Kristian Menchaca Memorial Highway.”

By way of this proclamation, Goodman said the county acknowledges the debt that is owed to those who are “willing to lay down their lives in the service of their fellow citizens.”