Goya Foods, which became the target of failed boycott attempts last year after the company’s CEO Robert Unanue praised then-President Donald Trump, is holding a Memorial Day event in Texas on Monday, honoring veterans and fallen heroes.
The company is slated to hold a patriotic event in Brookshire, Texas, on Monday, honoring the fallen, including late Marine veteran and Houston native Sgt. Marty Gonzalez, a recipient of three Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars. The Marine, 40, died in December from complications from injuries stemming from his service in Iraq 16 years ago.
“Today the medical examiner called me and told me that my husband’s death was a direct result of his injuries that he sustained on December 12, 2004 from the blast in Iraq,” his wife Tawnee Gonzalez said at the time.
“He hated the word hero. Because he lived with the guilt of the man that he lost and he never fully forgave himself for the ones he couldn’t bring back,” she said of her husband. “But he was a hero.”
Both Tawnee and her daughter are expected to accept an award on his behalf at the Monday event.
According to Fox News, other veterans honored at the event will include:
…93-year-old U.S. Army veteran SGM Victor Lopez, who fought in the Puerto Rican regiment known as the “Borinqueneers;” U.S. Marine Corps veteran Mark “Oz” Geist, a team member of the Annex Security Team that defended the American diplomatic post and CIA annex in Benghazi; CPL Sue Downes, who lost two limbs when an antitank mine hit her humvee in Afghanistan; 101-year-old World War II veteran Stewart Morris Sr.; and USMC veteran Daniel P. Cortez.
Goya Foods rose to the national spotlight last year after the company’s CEO praised Trump, declaring America “blessed” to have such a leader. The backlash from the left was swift and fierce, prompting conservatives to launch a “buycott” of Goya products to counter the left’s boycott. Trump also vocally supported the company amid the left’s attacks, posing with Goya products and posting the picture to social media:
Unanue refused to cave in the face of backlash and in December announced the company made far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) employee of the month after she effectively called for a boycott, which resulted in a boost in sales.
“Actually, our adobo sales did very well after she said make your own adobo,” he remarked, deeming the radical leftist lawmaker their “hero.”
“She helped boost sales tremendously,” he added.
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