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Private Marcelino Serna was born in Hacienda Mining Camp near Chihuahua City, Mexico, on April 26, 1896, and came to the U.S. in 1915. When the United States entered World War I, Serna joined the U.S. Army. After three weeks of basic training, Serna was deployed to France with Company B, 355th Infantry of the 89th Division. Serna was not a U.S. citizen but chose to stay with his unit even after being told that non-nationals were not obliged to serve. In one of many combat actions, his unit advanced toward the Meuse River and Argonne Forest in Northeastern France. After a German machine gunner killed 12 Americans in his unit, Pvt. Serna advanced alone and tossed four grenades into the enemy's machine gun nest, killing six enemy soldiers and taking eight prisoners. During a second mission, Serna shot and wounded a sniper, then followed him to a location where he killed 26 Germans and captured 24 more. Alone, he held the captives until his unit arrived.
Private Serna was wounded four days before the Armistice in 1918. While in the Army hospital in France, General John J. Pershing awarded Pvt. Serna the Distinguished Service Cross. The Supreme Allied Commander, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, awarded Pvt. Serna numerous medals, including to French Croix de Guerre for bravery, the French Medaille Militaire, French Commemorative Medal, the Italian Cross of Merit, the WWI Victory Medal, The Saint Mihiel Medal, the Verdun Medal, and two Purple Hearts with oak leaf clusters, making Private Serna Texas' most decorated WWI veteran. After his discharge in 1919, Pvt. Serna settled in El Paso, where he married and raised a family. He became a U.S. citizen in 1924. He died on February 29, 1922, and was buried at Ft. Bliss National Cemetery. He was posthumously awarded the Texas Medal of Valor in 2017. (2017) |
