Hispanic Heritage Month speaker's tale moves hearts and minds

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacob Corbin
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Some stories have the power to stir hearts and minds - have the ability to move people.

Lupita Ecoff, editor of "Despertad," a local bi-lingual newspaper and member of the Sheppard Air Force Base Hispanic Heritage Committee, told such a story at the Hispanic Heritage Luncheon Oct. 22 at the Sheppard Club.

This year's theme for Hispanic Heritage Month is "Hispanic-Americans: Making a Positive Impact on American Society. "

Mrs. Ecoff told the story of a young woman, desperate to escape the confines of her life, desperate to find a better home for her and her daughter - a home free of violence and pain.

She told the assembled people at the luncheon how this woman, who gave birth to her daughter at the age of 15 amidst a violent marriage, dealt with the anger of her young daughter who did not want to leave the only life she had known.

She told the story of her mother, Lilian Arreaga.

When she was 8 years old Mrs. Ecoff said her mother returned from the United States, after setting up a home for her young daughter, to gather her daughter and set out for a better life. She said the day she was to leave, her mother informed her they were taking a trip to the zoo, but that she should pay extra attention when saying good bye to her grandfather.

It was then Mrs. Ecoff knew she was not coming back to her life in El Salvador.

She said she and her mother fought against the odds to make their way through Guatemala and Mexico, crossing rivers and deserts, to arrive in the United States and a better life.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Ecoff said she didn't see it that way at the time. She was angry at her mother; she was upset for years for what she had done. It was the anger, and a desire to disobey her mother's wishes, that led her to join her school's ROTC program, and later, the Navy.

"I put on a uniform and found somewhere I felt I belonged," she said.

It wasn't until four years after joining the Navy and arriving in Japan with her husband that Mrs. Ecoff finally realized all her mother had done for her, she said.

"I learned to love and to forgive," she said. "Peace entered my life."

Mrs. Ecoff said the U.S. is fighting a war to help bring freedom and opportunity to thousands of children in other countries, the same opportunity her mother fought for her to have - these children may not realize what's being done for them, much like Mrs. Ecoff.

"We offer hope, love and refuge," she said. "Some day those children, like me, (may) become Americans. They, too, will have a positive impact on America. And America will have a positive impact on them."

Mrs. Ecoff's story stirred a desire for some in the audience to share similar tales of arriving in America.

"(Her story) captured a lot of the feelings of Hispanic-Americans," said 1st Lt. Ninostka Becerra, who herself was brought to the United States from Colombia at the age of 6.

She said while it may have not been her choice to come to America, she like many others grew to embrace the "American dream."

"(The U.S.) is a part of us now," the 82nd Medical Group executive officer said. "A lot of us love our (Hispanic) heritage ... but will always be grateful for what the U.S. gave us."

Lilian Arreaga is now the owner of two $3 million businesses and has successfully brought her seven brothers and sisters from El Salvador to the United States.