{"id":72095,"date":"2024-04-10T14:01:30","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T14:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/04\/10\/the-very-best-of-us-one-streets-lesson-about-service-belonging\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:22:23","slug":"the-very-best-of-us-one-streets-lesson-about-service-belonging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2024\/04\/10\/the-very-best-of-us-one-streets-lesson-about-service-belonging\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The very best of us\u2019: One street\u2019s lesson about service, belonging"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pulling onto Second Street in Silvis, Illinois, the whistles and churns of passing trains are an oddly rhythmic occurrence from the nearby rail yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A couple of homes have American flags outside, another has a statue of the Virgin Mary in the yard. There\u2019s a small park with a jungle gym for kids. Local dive Porkie\u2019s sells what is perhaps the region\u2019s best tenderloin a few buildings down, and a small tortilla shop makes chips relied upon by local grocery chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But unlike other streets, this particular road in this particular Midwest town has a unique place in military \u2014 and Latino \u2014 history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Defense once reported that more people joined the military from Second Street in Silvis than any other street of comparable size \u2014 only a block-and-a-half long. Seventy-eight men from 35 local families served during World War II and the Korean War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City officials in 1969 renamed Second Street to \u201cHero Street\u201d in honor of the neighborhood\u2019s eight boys who died in combat and dozens of other veterans \u2014 the sons of Mexican immigrants, or immigrants themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n