The Army has sent me a lot of places… some are nice, some are not so nice.  I’d list London, Chicago, and Charlotte as some of the nicer cities I’ve seen.  I’m currently in San Antonio, TX working to promote the Army Strong message at the Army All-American Bowl.  I’ll be completely honest, San Antonio (or the parts I’ve seen) has not been the most impressive in terms of beauty or upkeep.  At first sight I definitely dismissed the city and wasn’t interested in a lot of sightseeing.  I even posted on my facebook status complaining that “we should have gave this city to Mexico instead of fighting for the Alamo”.  It was half joking, but a good friend of mine definitely took offense.

SFC Ed Sherwood is an old school NCO (very old).  He made it a point to make sure I understood the historical significance of this city and the Alamo.  He pointed out that the city has a lot of potential, but sometimes the local people don’t appreciate what they have.  I think he may be right on, because the riverwalk is gorgeous, but just a few blocks away you see litter covered streets. 

A quote from SFC Sherwood:

“Watch your filthy sewer! It's not about the place, it's about the battle and the after-effects. It's the bravery of just over 200 men who fought over 1500 Mexican soldiers for 13 days before being overrun, the inspiration of that battle that flocked men to join Sam Houston's army, the capture of Gen Santa Ana, and the eventual independence of Texas.”

His rants made me think about what the significance of the Alamo really is.  The Battle for the Alamo happened 175 years ago, and anyone you ask has still heard the battle cry “remember the Alamo”, but why?

I’m not a history buff, but from what I understand is that the Battle for the Alamo was a turning point in the fight for Texas independence from Mexico.  Famous names such as Davy Crocket, Jim Bowie, and Santa Ana all played a part in the fight.  The Alamo was a military outpost, and not large in size.  It was manned with about 250 Texas Soldiers.  Santa Ana seiged the Alamo with a force of nearly 6,000 troops.  The Texas Soldier did not quit fighting and nearly all of them died, but not before inflicting nearly 600 casualties on the other side of the force.  Their drive to fight a larger enemy and defend their homeland became crucial in the battle for Texas. 

A lot of men died that day, and the lasting effect of the Alamo was that it became a rallying cry in future battles and got public support to fight back against the Mexican Army.  If that battle didn’t happen and those men didn’t die, texas may be a territory of mexico still to this day.

If you’re interested in reading more, or getting more knowledge on the battle and why it was important, do what I do, Wikipedia it.  I don’t care what people say… it’s the second best website on the web, behind armystrongstories.com ;)