Local veteran advocate Perez dies [Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas]

May 15--HARLINGEN -- A longtime advocate for military veterans lost his own battle with cancer Sunday.

Luis Perez formed his own small group to help veterans who needed assistance with their veterans benefit claims.

Perez, 63, founded the United Veterans Organization of the Rio Grande Valley in 2001 with the help of volunteers.

In an interview with the Valley Morning Star, Perez said he formed the group to help veterans who were overwhelmed by the large, established veterans' groups and the VA.

He said veterans needed to talk about the demons they brought home from places like Vietnam, Korea, World War II in Europe, Africa and the Pacific.

A small self-help group would meet at nights in his insurance office, he said. Ranging from a World War II Navy veteran in his 90s whose ship was torpedoed at Pearl Harbor to veterans of the Korean War, Vietnam even Operation Desert Storm, they just needed to talk with fellow soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen, he said.

Her father had many other interests, including as a candidate for Harlingen City Commission and as a founder of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Erica Caballero, said.

Fighting back tears, she acknowledged that her father was often abrasive but that was a result of his passion for causes in which he believed.

"He was an insurance agent for 40 years," she said. "He touched so many lives. He had a wonderful work ethic. He taught us a lot," she said of herself and brothers Phillip and Cesar, who now have their own insurance agency.

"He always tried his best to work for the best interests of people," she said.

Born in Alice, Perez began working before he was 13, picking cotton, shining shoes and working as a delivery boy, Caballero said. He graduated from Alice High School at age 16 and enlisted in the Marines at 17.

Salvador Mendoza said Perez brought him into the insurance business 16 years ago.

"We were good friends," Mendoza said. "To me, he was like family."

Perez sometimes locked horns with members of other veterans groups, vigorously defending efforts by the VA to improve health care in South Texas. He used to hate the VA, but in recent years changed his mind, especially after changes were made, Mendoza said.

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