The publication is reproduced in full below:
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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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 22
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