Hero Street U.S.A.

Annotation

The song "Hero Street U.S.A." (Hero Records # BF-3000) by Bobby Fischer is a tribute to Mexican-Americans who died in war. Released in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The picture sleeve said:"More then 80 Mexican American men actually won more than a bushel of medals, and were all from a tiny block and a half street in Silvis Illinois, renamed from 2nd Street to Hero Street. Now as a tribute to the eight who never came back, and to those who risked the same fate. The people of Silvis, Illinois are working to build Hero Street Memorial Park in their honor. And that is how this record came to be. Bobby Fischer who lived in that area, wrote and recorded the story and is donating a percentage of his royalties to help build Hero Street Memorial Park". The cover had pictures of the eight soldiers who died, named as Frank Sandoval, William Sandoval, Joseph Sandoval, Peter Masias, Johnny Munos, Joseph Gomez, Claro Soliz, & Tony Pompa. They died in World War Two and Korea. It is reported that over 100 people from 2nd Street had served in the US military. The street was renamed Hero Street in May 1967.12 The lyrics contained strong patriotic sentiments towards the soldiers who "defend our nation's honor". The end of the song contained the message: "a block and half of Mexican boys, Americans every one", an important representation of Mexican-American Civil Rights.Sources1Wikipedia: Silvis, Illinois↩2herostreetusa.org (archived copy)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs

The song "Hero Street U.S.A." (Hero Records # BF-3000) by Bobby Fischer is a tribute to Mexican-Americans who died in war. Released in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The picture sleeve said:"More then 80 Mexican American men actually won more than a bushel of medals, and were all from a tiny block and a half street in Silvis Illinois, renamed from 2nd Street to Hero Street. Now as a tribute to the eight who never came back, and to those who risked the same fate. The people of Silvis, Illinois are working to build Hero Street Memorial Park in their honor. And that is how this record came to be. Bobby Fischer who lived in that area, wrote and recorded the story and is donating a percentage of his royalties to help build Hero Street Memorial Park".The cover had pictures of the eight soldiers who died, named as Frank Sandoval, William Sandoval, Joseph Sandoval, Peter Masias, Johnny Munos, Joseph Gomez, Claro Soliz, & Tony Pompa. They died in World War Two and Korea. It is reported that over 100 people from 2nd Street had served in the US military. The street was renamed Hero Street in May 1967.12 The lyrics contained strong patriotic sentiments towards the soldiers who "defend our nation's honor". The end of the song contained the message: "a block and half of Mexican boys, Americans every one", an important representation of Mexican-American Civil Rights. Sources1Wikipedia: Silvis, Illinois↩2herostreetusa.org (archived copy)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: It's not much of a street in size, just a block and half long / It gets muddy in the spring and slick in the winter, and in the summer time dust slips into the windows of the little houses where 36 Mexican-American families live / They used to called 2nd Street in Silvis, Illinois, until they discovered that the little street had contributed more men to the last three wars then any area of its size in the country / And eight of those men never returned to their loved ones / So now in their honor, they've renamed it Hero Street, U.S.A. / Men come from all parts of the country to defend our nation's honor / And the men from Hero Street are no bravery than those from other towns and cities / It's just hard to believe that this little forlorn looking street in Silvis, Illinois, gave more than 80 men to our battles / And one more than a bushel of our countries highest medals / Little did the heroes know that when they played games of war on Billy Go Bluff, the little hill that rises behind this famous street / They were training for a job they would do later in their young lives / But this time it would be for their country / I know many thousands of our boys risked the very same fate / And they fought for the same rights and ideals / But to the 8 men who believed that freedom is always a goal and never an achievement and gave their lives above and beyond the call of duty / This story is a tribute to them and to those who have returned to Hero Street... / A block and…

Notes

Hero Records, Rec. No. BF-3000 (PRP-29391), green label, Nashville, Tennessee; "Hero Street U.S.A." (Fischer), 3:58, Barlow Music Corp., ASCAP; produced by Riggi Mareno and Jack Barlow. The picture sleeve, headed "by Bobby Fischer, Barlow Music, Hero Records", surrounds the title with portrait photographs of eight servicemen named as Frank Sandoval, William Sandoval, Tony Pompa, Peter Masias, Claro Soliz, Joseph Sandoval, Joseph Gomez and Johnny Munos. Under the heading 'The story you are about to hear is true', the sleeve text explains that more than 80 Mexican American men from a block-and-a-half street in Silvis, Illinois, renamed from 2nd Street to Hero Street, won "more than a bushel of medals", and that the people of Silvis are building Hero Street Memorial Park as a tribute to the eight who never came back. It adds that Bobby Fischer, who lived in that area, wrote and recorded…

About the artist

Bobby Fischer (Robert Warren Fischer, born 1935 in Wilton, Iowa) is a veteran Nashville country songwriter - co-writer of Reba McEntire's 1990 No. 1 'You Lie' and great-uncle of Margo Price - who fronted the Tunesharks in Iowa/Illinois before moving to Nashville in 1970; his 1971 single 'Hero Street U.S.A.' (Hero Records) honors Hero Street in Silvis, Illinois. [Source: bobbyfischersongwriter.com; Discogs]

Themes

Patriotic

In collections

Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]