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FOX 7 Care Force: Austin woman sets up altar at Mexic-Arte Museum for great-uncle who served in WWII

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Published  November 28, 2019 5:59pm CST
Care Force
FOX 7 Austin

Care Force: Austin woman sets up altar at Mexic-Arte Museum for great-uncle who served in WWII

Fernando Gomez Jr.'s grandniece Rebecca put together an altar to honor him and to tell the story of the Death March and the camps and the Hell ships that her great-uncle was on.

AUSTIN, Texas - Every year the Mexic-Arte Museum hosts a "Day of the Dead" exhibit and this year, one of the altars was for Fernando Gomez Jr.

In World War II, Gomez served under General Douglas MacArthur in the Philippines, fought the Japanese invasion, had to surrender and survived the Bataan Death March and a prison camp, but ultimately died when the Japanese ship he was being transported on was sunk by a US Navy submarine.

His grandniece Rebecca put together an altar for his great-uncle to honor him and "to tell the story of the Death March and the camps and the Hell ships" that her great-uncle was on.

While Rebecca's exhibit is coming down at the Mexic-Arte Museum, she hopes to find a permanent place for it in her great-uncle's native New Mexico.