[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 22 (Thursday, February 3, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           HONORING THE LIFE OF CORPORAL YSABEL ``MAC'' ORTIZ

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GRACE F. NAPOLITANO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 3, 2022

  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of 
Corporal Ysabel ``Mac'' Ortiz, who proudly served his country in the 
Korean War and was missing in action for 70 years.
  Corporal Ortiz was born in 1931 and raised in El Monte, California. 
As a third generation El Montean, he attended El Monte High School 
before enlisting in the U.S. Army at the age of 17. In 1950, Corporal 
Ortiz was deployed to fight in the Korean War and was assigned to a M-
19 anti-aircraft tank. His tank took a direct hit on December 2, 1950, 
and his remains were not found for 70 years. In January of 1954, 
Corporal Ortiz was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart for making the 
ultimate sacrifice for his country.
  Although he was listed as missing in action, his family never gave up 
hope that he would someday return home and receive the hero's burial he 
so much deserved. In 2019, 55 caskets containing the remains of 
American soldiers were returned to the United States after a summit 
with North Korea, and DNA evidence provided by Corporal Ortiz's 
siblings was instrumental in identifying his remains. Over 70 years 
later, he finally made it home.
  Corporal Ortiz is survived by his mother Concha Ortiz (now deceased), 
his father Ysabel M. Ortiz, Sr. (now deceased), his brothers Harold 
Ortiz (now deceased) and Jose Lucio Ortiz (now deceased), his sisters 
Esmeralda ``Chata'' Ortiz Ureno (now deceased) and Jennie Sanchez (now 
deceased), his step-brothers Rudy Ortiz (now deceased), Manuel Ortiz of 
El Monte, and Joe Ortiz of Bakersfield, and step-sisters Rose Soto of 
West Covina and Ana Sanchez of Murrieta,
  Over the next 70 years, both Corporal Ortiz's family and community 
would work to recognize his sacrifice and to ensure that his memory 
lived on. Corporal Ortiz is recognized on a bronze plaque honoring our 
nation's war dead at the El Monte Historical Museum, and his photo also 
hangs at the La Historia Museum/Museo de Los Barrios veterans' exhibit 
in El Monte. In 2022, a new 53-unit veterans housing project developed 
by the Cesar Chavez Foundation is scheduled to be opened in El Monte 
and will be named Plaza Ortiz in honor of Corporal Ortiz. The housing 
project will include a monument with a mural and a plaque to 
commemorate Corporal Ortiz's service to our nation.
  I extend my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of fallen 
Corporal Ysabel ``Mac'' Ortiz, and I would like to recognize the 
dedication and years of work shown by his family to finally have 
Corporal Ortiz laid to rest with full honors at Riverside National 
Cemetery in California. I urge all my colleagues to join me in 
recognizing Corporal Ortiz's ultimate sacrifice for our Nation.

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