What's New     |    Contributors    |     Sports/Stars  |     Children's Books  |   This Date in History
     Talk Lines/Bulletin Board    |   Click here to Contribute  |  Submit URL   |   To Advertise on these Web Pages
                                                                               en  Español   |   in English 

                    click for information on  FREE Copies to Handout & Distribute "Hispanic Contibutions"


          Two Loves -- Family and Photography -- Guide Hispanic NCO

By Douglas J. Gillert
American Forces Press Service

RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Air Force Master Sgt. Fernando Serna stood out front on the scaffolding erected west of the U.S. Capitol, in the front echelon of more than 500 photographers from around the world. With lenses ranging from 180 mm to 800 mm, he was confident he'd get the best shots as below, on the Capitol steps, Bill Clinton took the oath of office to begin his second term as president.

The Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony culminated six weeks of preparation by Serna and the 31 videographers and still photographers in his charge who gathered in Washington from each service branch as members of the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee. Serna's photos of Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton commencing their second term as the nation's first family would eventually appear on the Internet and in dozens of military publications worldwide. Such broad use of his photographs pleased Serna, although it wasn't a new experience. In fact, for more than half of his years in the Air Force, the son of Mexican immigrants has routinely seen his photos appear in print.

Along the way, he captured images of aircraft in the heat of battle, physicians performing life-saving surgery, poverty-stricken children in rags accepting the charity of men and women in Air Force uniforms. Photo assignments have taken him to the top of Mount McKinley and the bottom of the Iraqi desert floor. Plaques commemorating awards his photography won adorn his office wall. Every new accomplishment took him further from the South San Antonio barrio, but his heart never left the poor but loving home he grew up in.

Today, on the verge of ending his military career, he lives back in the old neighborhood, raising children he's proud of with a loving wife he's known since childhood. "Family" is at the heart of his success, he said, and of the Hispanic culture he loves.

"Hispanics have always been family oriented and today are the fastest growing minority in the United States," he said with pride. "Soon, we will be the largest minority." Hispanics long have comprised a large chunk of the San Antonio population and dominate the city's cultural affairs. From mariachis performing along the city's famed River Walk to the stately and distinctly Spanish San Fernando Cathedral to the enticing aromas wafting from the kitchens of hundreds of Mexican restaurants, the nation's ninth largest city is steeped in Hispanic tradition.

But the city long has been the most military of American cities, too. Growing up in San Antonio, Serna and his 10 brothers and sisters (he's the second oldest) shared downtown sidewalks with men and women in uniform and could look up almost anytime during the day and see an Air Force jet or cargo hauler flying low overhead. "I always thought I'd like to join the service, because I knew it would help me get a good education," Serna said. "But after high school, I wasn't ready for more school right away." Instead, he became a welder, making "not so good" wages. The trade lacked stability, as well, and when his older brother said he was going to see an Air Force recruiter, Serna tagged along. "Ironically, my brother didn't sign up, but I eventually did," he said. "I found out they had photographers, so I enlisted for that specialty." Serna learned his passion for photography from his mother, who "always took pictures of everything," he recalled. His only personal photographic experience, however, had been with a small instant camera his mom gave him when he was a teen-ager. Still, her love for picture-taking and his own brief experiences sparked a lifelong interest. But four days into basic training at Lackland Air Force Base -- just a few miles from his home --

Serna learned the specialty he'd been placed in wasn't photography but continuous film processing. About the only time he'd handle a camera was to extract exposed film. Disappointed, he vowed to stick it out and do the best he could. After all, he'd still be earning college tuition.

Then the classifiers learned his parents were permanent residents but not U.S. citizens, and Serna did not qualify for the top secret clearance the film processing job required. Would he accept a different career field, they queried him, or did he want an honorable discharge? No way was the young San Antonian going back home with no hair and an unfulfilled goal. He pressed them to search harder for a job and formal training in still photography.

The classifier told him he was dreaming. That career field rarely had any openings. Serna held firm, however, and after several hours, the classifier gave him the good news: He was indeed heading to the Air Force photographic school at Lowry Air Force Base, Colo., after successfully completing basic training. Serna excelled in his chosen profession. Eventually selected to attend the prestigious Navy photojournalism course at Syracuse University, N.Y., he went on to travel most of Europe, the Near East and Africa as a documentation photographer, then the world at large as assistant director of photojournalism for "Airman," the service's official magazine. That job brought him back to San Antonio, where the magazine is headquartered at Kelly Air Force Base, virtually next door to his old neighborhood.

He and his wife, Molly, a dental assistant, soon moved into her family home and thrilled at raising their children where they also had been raised. After his "Airman" tour, Serna moved across town to the Air Force Recruiting Service. During the past 4 1/2 years, he's continued his travels as a national advertising photographer, always returning, however, to his lifelong home. Joseph, 17, will enter the local St. Mary's University this fall and plans to major in biology. Anastacia, 16, is an honor student in her junior year of high school. And Andrea, 13, excels at playing the saxophone. Their income and thriftiness would allow the Sernas to live almost anywhere in San Antonio. By choosing the old neighborhood, they may have exposed their kids to the greater pressure of inner-city life -- street gangs, drugs and violence, which are plentiful here.

The Serna children haven't been affected by those negative influences, their father said, because of the strength and cohesiveness of their family. "I have to give Molly a lot of the credit, because she's more strict with the kids than I am," he said. "But family is the key. Because the pressures on kids are so much greater today, parents have to work a lot harder. The reason so many kids -- not just Hispanics -- are running wild and killing each other is because their family unit has broken down and nobody is holding them accountable for their actions." In his travels around the country, Serna said he has seen and felt the sting of prejudice and would like to see Hispanic Americans rise above that. He offered his own, three-step formula for improvement: "Education, the ability to get along with others and family values will allow Hispanics to get ahead." Fernando Serna's life reflects the fruition of these values.



                                        Submit URL  |   Awards  |    Bulletin Board Home

                                                                              © 1996-97 all rights reserved

      Permission is granted to list our educational & cultural web site on your web pages, click here for URL's.
                                     

Proceeds from this book are         applied to bring more information on Hispanic contributions to the public.

.If you would like to become a contributor,  and /or submit any comments, please e-mail  JBR, and Your comments are welcomed! 

 Or you may mail your information to:

C/O Judy Baca Romero y  Martín
Hispanic America USA, Inc.
P.O. Box 36693,
Phoenix, Arizona 85067-6693

(fax 602-265-2118) (602-234-8600): 

Thank you in advance for your contributions
This web page hosted by 1stbooks, E-mail is 1stbooks@neta.com
                                                     © 1996-97 all rights reserved

               
                 
 


               
USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA  Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA  Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USAMilitary, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USAMilitary, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA  Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA  Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USAMilitary, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USAMilitary, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage,USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA  Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA  Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USAMilitary, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USAMilitary, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA  Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA  Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USAMilitary, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USAMilitary, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage, USA Military, Veterans, Reenactment, Hispanic Heritage,