• Gabe Semenza •
• Originally published May 15, 2008 at 5:48 a.m., updated May 15, 2008 at 5:48 a.m.

Fleming Prairie Road was peaceful. There was no crying, no death and no horror.

On the fifth anniversary of the worst human smuggling tragedy in U.S. history, tranquility – even a soft drizzle – blanketed the road.

This scene was far different from the setting here on May 14, 2003.

Visitors Wednesday even spoke gently.

They talked only as loud as needed to compete with the sporadic bustle from the nearby truck stop and U.S. Highway 77.

Julio Lopez, 27, carried an oversized painting of San Juan Diego from his truck to the makeshift memorial. Nearby, signs presented the names of 19 dead illegal immigrants.

Lopez, a short, thin man, placed the religious painting on the ground. He adjusted a stand’s legs until the portrait leaned just right.

Then he thanked God he lived to tell his story. Lopez entered the U.S. illegally two years before the 19 who died did. But he can relate.

Others who visited the memorial just wanted to remember. Some paid respects.

In May 2003, 73 illegal immigrants left Harlingen bound for Houston. They climbed into a sealed tractor-trailer. When the trailer reached Victoria County, many were dead.

Alicia Ybarra, 65, remembers. She pored over the memorial for details she may have missed. Sadness overtook her.

Just days ago, grass and wildflowers overran the memorial. This day, the site was groomed.

Dorothy Cuellar, D. Delgado, Sabas Guerrero, Tomasita Hernandez and Esperanza Goba stood on the road’s northern dirt shoulder.

This Victoria group recited the names of the 19 who died.

Consul General Carolina Zaragoza, of the Mexican consulate in Houston, placed a large wreath at the site. For minutes, Zaragoza stared at the wreath in silence.

She was in Victoria on that fateful day. She helped to link survivors to family and to identify those who died.

“This is my respect to the people,” Zaragoza said. “That’s all I can say.”

Amelia Perez, also from Houston, draped wreaths on the signs and placed crosses on the ground.

Ybarra gathered everyone to pray.

“We’re here this morning to pay respect to the lives lost five years ago,” she said, her eyes closed. “We still remember you. We pray for your families that God will give them the strength to go on. In God, we ask peace for all of them. Amen.”

Domiciano Aldape placed the 19 signs and groomed the site. He said he wants other immigrants to remember the lessons learned here.

“Money is OK,” he said. “Life is better.”

But money, a better life, is what drew Lopez – the thin man – here seven years ago.

He swam the Rio Grande River near Brownsville with 14 others, and then ran for eight hours, crossing rough terrain.

They ducked patrols and trees and snakes until meeting their smuggler. Later, Lopez traveled, covered by hay, to Houston in a horse trailer.

Now, Lopez is married to a United States citizen. He has three children and his own Houston business, which is located on Fleming Drive.

As he stood Wednesday on Fleming Prairie Road, he read two names: Marco Antonio Villasenor and Jose Antonio Villasenor.

Marco was a 5-year-old boy. Jose was the boy’s father.

Lopez has three children, including a 5-year-old son. He can’t imagine what the now dead father felt as he held his dying boy inside the sweltering trailer.

“Try to put yourself in their position,” Lopez said. “I’m trying to make something for my family. They tried, too, but just didn’t make it.”

Elena Vega, of Victoria, has four children of her own. She visits the site often.

“How can you not just feel for them?” she said. “You just can’t forget a tragedy like this.”

Gabe Semenza is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact him at 361-580-6519 or gsemenza@vicad.com, or comment on this story at www.VictoriaAdvocate.com.

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