A Starlit Moment for Major General : National Guard Officer Honored

By BILL BILLITER

March 31, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

LOS ALAMITOS — Daniel J. Hernandez, resplendent in his crisp National Guard uniform, looked toward the audience that had come to honor him at the Armed Forces Reserve Center here.

Once a private, Hernandez now stood before the outdoor assemblage as one of the top military officers in the nation: a newly promoted major general. His wife Dorothy had just affixed the two silver stars on his shoulder.

A letter from Gov. Pete Wilson, read to the audience, had praised Hernandez for being the highest-ranking Latino in the California National Guard.

Now it was Hernandez’s time to speak. His voice was firm, but his face clearly showed the emotion of the moment.

“Dreams do come true,” said Hernandez, the American-born son of immigrant Mexican parents. “And only in America can it happen.”

Hernandez’s dream had been to succeed in the state’s National Guard. His fellow officers said Monday that Hernandez had more than achieved that goal.

Col. Roger Goodrich, the master of ceremonies, told the audience that only .002% of people in the National Guard ever rise to the rank achieved by Hernandez. California Adjutant Gen. Robert Thrasher said Hernandez “has commanded just about everything we have in the California National Guard, and he has done it exceptionally well.”

Ironically, the ceremony for Hernandez came immediately on the heels of a worrisome budget-cut notice for the unit he currently commands, the National Guard’s 40th Infantry Division (Mechanized).

Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney announced last Thursday that he is asking Congress to slash the 40th Infantry Division by one-third, from its current 15,000 troops to about 10,000, by mid-1993.

In his speech, Thrasher--who is based in Sacramento and heads all of the state’s National Guard units--briefly referred to the proposed budget cut.

“We’re in very difficult times with our division right now,” he said. “We’re fighting for its survival, and that’s a pitch to those of you who do not know (about the proposed cut) to get out in the community and help us keep this division where it belongs, and that is at full strength and in the state of California.”

Hernandez made no reference to congressional budget cuts in his brief address to the audience. But later, during a press conference, he said of the proposed cuts: “We don’t like to do it.”

Hernandez, however, pointedly avoided criticizing the proposed cuts or making a plea for congressional action. Asked if he was going to urge letter-writing to Congress, he responded: “We can’t get into that.”

The 40th Infantry Division that Hernandez heads is based here, but its National Guard members live all over California.

Hernandez, 58, currently lives in Altadena, near Pasadena, where he grew up. His parents, natives of central Mexico, moved to Pasadena in 1932, and Hernandez was born there a year later.

He joined the Army National Guard in 1949, when he was 16. He started at the lowest entry level for an enlisted man but was quickly promoted to the highest noncommissioned rank then possible. At that point, in the late 1950s, his then-commanding officer suggested that Hernandez apply for officers’ school.

Hernandez initially balked at the idea. “I just didn’t think I had the ability” to become an officer, he once said in an interview. But he ultimately decided to go to officers’ school. He was commissioned a second lieutenant, the lowest commissioned level, on June 8, 1958.

In the 34 subsequent years, Hernandez has risen into the rarefied ranks of top generals. His military colleagues said Monday that he has richly deserved each promotion.

Said Goodrich: “This is a happy occasion. . . . One of our own has made good.”

Hernandez, however, told everyone in the audience that his wife will always outrank him. He said that ever since he became a second lieutenant, he has always given his wife the insignia of the next higher rank.

He did so again Monday. Taking out a jewelry box, Hernandez produced three silver stars linked together into a bar. Each star was encrusted with a diamond. He then pinned the piece of jewelry on Dorothy Hernandez.

“I’ve always got to remember who the boss is,” he said.

Profile: Daniel J. Hernandez

Age: 58

Born: Dec. 11, 1933

Birthplace: Pasadena, Calif.

Education: BS, State University of New York; California Military Academy; courses at Army War College and Army Medical Field Service School

Enlisted: Nov. 29, 1949, and moved up through the ranks to first sergeant, then the highest noncommissioned officer rank

Commissioned: Second lieutenant on June 8, 1958

Residence: Altadena

Family: Wife Dorothy and five sons

Source: California National Guard