On the edge of a construction site, with a blue-wrapped temporary chain link fence in the background, is a large live oak tree. Nestled within the tree's roots sits a stone marker, indicating the tree as The Patriot Oak.
The marker commemorates Corpus Christi's only casualty from the Persian Gulf War, Army Spc. Andy Alaniz.
Alaniz was killed Feb. 27, 1991, days before the end of Operation Desert Storm. Family members initially were told the 20-year-old Alaniz died when his vehicle drove over a landmine, but later officials confirmed he had been killed by friendly fire.
The marker is outside the site of the former Cullen Middle School, currently under construction to become a new elementary school when the Corpus Christi Independent School District combines Meadowbrook, Montclair and Woodlawn elementary schools.
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The marker, which was dedicated on Arbor Day 1991 by the Cullen Place Builders Club and Del Mar Kiwanis Club, isn't the only commemoration of Alaniz in Corpus Christi. In April 1991, the Westside Pony League dedicated a baseball field in his memory at the Westside Little League complex on Greenwood Drive. Alaniz started playing with the league at 7 years old, and played for seven years before joining Moody's baseball team. The marker was stolen in 2007, but community members with the help of Citgo replaced the marker with a new, larger memorial.
Alaniz, a 1989 Moody High School graduate, had married his 19-year-old wife, Catherine Lee Alaniz of Eagle Pass, only months before shipping out. She was six months pregnant when the Alaniz family learned of his death. The couple's daughter, Andee, was born later that year.
One of the most poignant photographs from the Gulf War involves Alaniz. In the image, two soldiers sit beside a body bag in a helicopter, Sgt. Ken Kozakiewicz looking away as his face contorts with his grief and the wounded Cpl. Michael Tsangarakis lifting the bandage from his eyes to look down at the closed bag. Photographer David C. Turnley of the Detroit Free Press captured the image moments after the two had learned the bag held the remains of their friend, Alaniz.
In a 2003 interview with the Caller-Times, Alaniz's parents, Teresa and Cecilio Alaniz, talked of the iconic photo of their son.
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"You know, I remember the first time that I saw this picture," Teresa Alaniz said while sitting in the room where she and her husband had created a memorial to their son.
"I think I was looking through a book or something about the war a while after Andy died," she said. "I remember looking at that young man crying and feeling so sorry for him. I remember looking at that body bag and thinking how sad some mother like me must be. I had no idea that that mother was really me."
Teresa Alaniz joined the local Gold Star Mothers chapter, and she and Cecilio Alaniz for many years were active with groups honoring military families, including Purple Heart recipients and other Gold Star families. Cecilio Alaniz died in 2020, and Teresa died Jan. 18.
When Teresa Alaniz reflected on that photo known around the world, she told reporter Janell Ross in 2003 that the image no longer caused her only grief. Instead she could find comfort.
"I received letters and cards from people around the world that saw that picture," she said. "So I think that it must have meant something to the people who saw it. They can't forget that. And that alone means something."
Allison Ehrlich writes about things to do in South Texas and has a weekly Throwback Thursday column on local history. Support local coverage like this by checking out our subscription options and special offers at Caller.com/subscribe.