Border Patrol Stories
My La Llorona Story
It was a calm moonlit night in late February 1996 on the banks of the Rio Grande River near Brownsville, Texas. We had experienced torrential rains over the last few days and the Rio Grande was overflowing many of its banks. The swollen and fast moving water was discouraging many of the illegal aliens attempting to cross, so it had been a quiet midnight shift so far. We continued to respond to ground sensors in the heavy traffic areas that were not under water.
I was walking one of the many trails along the winding river with my partner O.P. when I heard a splash and decided to investigate. I had night vision goggles with me so I searched the riverbank below me and did not see anything. I heard another splash and quickly scanned in the direction of the noise. It turned out to be a Nutria Rat or Coypu, which is a cross between a muskrat and a beaver. It was splashing with its tail to warn us off as it swan toward the riverbank. The Coypu was also making a weird noise, something between a moo and a moan.
The noise made me think of the legend of La Llorona or “Weeping Woman”. Mexican folklore has it that La Llorona is the ghost of a woman who drown her children in a fit of jealousy and now cries while searching for them along and in the river at night. She is described as a tall, thin or skeletal women with long flowing black hair and wearing a long white gown, The legend of La Lloroena varies along the southwest, but it is said that those who get too close to her especially children are snatched up and dragged to a watery grave.
As I was thinking of La Llorona, I heard more splashing, then a cry, and a shriek. My partner signaled for me to follow him and we ran up the trail. Upon reaching a landing that was not submerged in water, we saw a woman and a small child being carried down river by the current. The woman was trying to hold onto the child, but both were thrashing about in the dark water. O. P. yelled that he was going into the water to try and save them and for me to watch his gun belt as he dropped it on the bank. He did this so the weight of the belt would not drag him and to prevent the possible loss of the gun or radio in the water. He began swimming toward the woman. As he reached the woman, she lost her grip on her child and he went under the water. She start to shriek “ayudame, ayudame, mi nino, mi nino” (help me, help me, my child, my child). I quickly dropped my gunbelt and drove into the water just as the child bobbed to the surface. He was struggling to stay afloat and in obvious distress. I swam out to him, caught him, and cradled him to my chest as he was coughing and gagging on the water. He was still thrashing about and I tried to calm him by telling him “estas bien hijo, te tengo” (you are OK son, I have you). He relaxed and I was able to quickly swim to shore where O.P. and the woman were waiting. The mother quickly ran to her child and seized him up into her arms as he continued to cough up water. Both were scared and shivering, but lucky to be alive.
We checked to make sure that they were OK and then started walking back through the Carrizo cane to where we dove into the water to retrieve our belts. O.P. was not happy that I had jumped in the water and left the belts on the shore. There was always the possibility that another alien was watching what we were doing and could have taken off with our weapons and radios. As we were walking, O.P. asked the woman, who said her name was Rosa, what she was doing trying to swim across the dangerous river with her child. Rosa said that the coyote (smuggler) told her the water was shallow in that spot and easy to cross to get to “El Norte” (the U.S). She realized she was in trouble after a few feet when the bottom dropped off and the current carried her and her child away. She said she yelled for the coyote, but he was already headed up the bank abandoning them and heading back into Mexico. Rosa was grateful that we were in the area and saved her and her Juanito. We got her back to our Ford Bronco, wrapped her and Juanito in a blanket and turned up the heat to dry all of us off. We asked if she could show us where she crossed and we drove upriver to the area spotlighting the Mexican side of the river, but did not see anyone else around.
At the Station, we processed Rosa and Juaunito for an immigration hearing and fed them some warm food and juice. During processing Juanito whispered in his mother’s ear and then came up to me reaching into his pocket. He gave me a small plastic orange and black gecko (lizard). Rosa explained that he had carried the gecko with him from Oaxaca in southern Mexico and he wanted me to have it. I appreciated his gesture but told him that I could not accept it and he started to cry, so I thanked him and told him I would carry it with me while I patrolled the river to protect me like it had him. He just beamed after that and asked for more juice and crackers.
We told the Supervisor (E.N.) what had happened at the River and he didn’t seem impressed. I asked if I could get a couple of dry uniforms from my house (I lived about fifteen minutes from the station). E.N. agreed that I could get the uniforms and left the incident as “another day on the line.” I did carry the gecko with me and after leaving Brownsville, I kept it on my desk the rest of my career to remind me of the human side of the job. In retirement I still have it in front of me below my computer monitor. Except now I have a "Sweet Baby Jesus" from a King Cake riding it as a reminder of my time in New Orleans.
I was walking one of the many trails along the winding river with my partner O.P. when I heard a splash and decided to investigate. I had night vision goggles with me so I searched the riverbank below me and did not see anything. I heard another splash and quickly scanned in the direction of the noise. It turned out to be a Nutria Rat or Coypu, which is a cross between a muskrat and a beaver. It was splashing with its tail to warn us off as it swan toward the riverbank. The Coypu was also making a weird noise, something between a moo and a moan.
The noise made me think of the legend of La Llorona or “Weeping Woman”. Mexican folklore has it that La Llorona is the ghost of a woman who drown her children in a fit of jealousy and now cries while searching for them along and in the river at night. She is described as a tall, thin or skeletal women with long flowing black hair and wearing a long white gown, The legend of La Lloroena varies along the southwest, but it is said that those who get too close to her especially children are snatched up and dragged to a watery grave.
As I was thinking of La Llorona, I heard more splashing, then a cry, and a shriek. My partner signaled for me to follow him and we ran up the trail. Upon reaching a landing that was not submerged in water, we saw a woman and a small child being carried down river by the current. The woman was trying to hold onto the child, but both were thrashing about in the dark water. O. P. yelled that he was going into the water to try and save them and for me to watch his gun belt as he dropped it on the bank. He did this so the weight of the belt would not drag him and to prevent the possible loss of the gun or radio in the water. He began swimming toward the woman. As he reached the woman, she lost her grip on her child and he went under the water. She start to shriek “ayudame, ayudame, mi nino, mi nino” (help me, help me, my child, my child). I quickly dropped my gunbelt and drove into the water just as the child bobbed to the surface. He was struggling to stay afloat and in obvious distress. I swam out to him, caught him, and cradled him to my chest as he was coughing and gagging on the water. He was still thrashing about and I tried to calm him by telling him “estas bien hijo, te tengo” (you are OK son, I have you). He relaxed and I was able to quickly swim to shore where O.P. and the woman were waiting. The mother quickly ran to her child and seized him up into her arms as he continued to cough up water. Both were scared and shivering, but lucky to be alive.
We checked to make sure that they were OK and then started walking back through the Carrizo cane to where we dove into the water to retrieve our belts. O.P. was not happy that I had jumped in the water and left the belts on the shore. There was always the possibility that another alien was watching what we were doing and could have taken off with our weapons and radios. As we were walking, O.P. asked the woman, who said her name was Rosa, what she was doing trying to swim across the dangerous river with her child. Rosa said that the coyote (smuggler) told her the water was shallow in that spot and easy to cross to get to “El Norte” (the U.S). She realized she was in trouble after a few feet when the bottom dropped off and the current carried her and her child away. She said she yelled for the coyote, but he was already headed up the bank abandoning them and heading back into Mexico. Rosa was grateful that we were in the area and saved her and her Juanito. We got her back to our Ford Bronco, wrapped her and Juanito in a blanket and turned up the heat to dry all of us off. We asked if she could show us where she crossed and we drove upriver to the area spotlighting the Mexican side of the river, but did not see anyone else around.
At the Station, we processed Rosa and Juaunito for an immigration hearing and fed them some warm food and juice. During processing Juanito whispered in his mother’s ear and then came up to me reaching into his pocket. He gave me a small plastic orange and black gecko (lizard). Rosa explained that he had carried the gecko with him from Oaxaca in southern Mexico and he wanted me to have it. I appreciated his gesture but told him that I could not accept it and he started to cry, so I thanked him and told him I would carry it with me while I patrolled the river to protect me like it had him. He just beamed after that and asked for more juice and crackers.
We told the Supervisor (E.N.) what had happened at the River and he didn’t seem impressed. I asked if I could get a couple of dry uniforms from my house (I lived about fifteen minutes from the station). E.N. agreed that I could get the uniforms and left the incident as “another day on the line.” I did carry the gecko with me and after leaving Brownsville, I kept it on my desk the rest of my career to remind me of the human side of the job. In retirement I still have it in front of me below my computer monitor. Except now I have a "Sweet Baby Jesus" from a King Cake riding it as a reminder of my time in New Orleans.
Honor First Note - This extraordinary act of heroism was and is unrecognized. The two Agents involved should have been nominated for the Newton-Azrak Award in 1996.
My La Llorona Story
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