This article was translated by John R. Bopp
Gudari José Moreno has passed away at the age of 100. We found out in Deia. Natural laws have warned us for a long time that we’d have to face this news, but that doesn’t make the blow that we’ve felt at his passing any softer.
For many of us these past few years, his presence and guidance, his judgment, and more than anything else his bravery and patriotism connected us with the generation he belonged to and which, unfortunately, is abandoning us for good. Being able to see and hear him, knowing that this gudari from Deusto, from Portugalete, of the BNP, the Basque nationalist trade union SOLI, democrat, patriot, and with firm ideas, he was there, and he made us feel that our grandfathers and grandmothers were still with us.
For many years, he was the “grandfather” to many Basques who had lost their own. Reading the opinions and thoughts of this patriot, this gudari, this faultless Basque, served to remind us what ours would say, since in most cases, ours had already departed this earth.
Today, we’re sure that many of us Basques feel more orphaned, more alone. One by one, our references, the people who “gave their all for their beloved country” as Lauxeta said in his poem, are passing away. This gudari who, at the age of 17, was part of the front lines of the defense of Democracy and Freedom against the totalitarians, had to survive defeat and forty years of darkness. He didn’t die as a young man, devoured by Fascism, fortunately for us, because he was one of those who preserved the true torch of Freedom and the Homeland. To him and to all those like him, we owe our Nation’s survival.
Today, José Moreno has entered Paradise, but he’s left behind a legacy of an incalculable value, of commitment and love for his Country. I hope we don’t waste that heritage and allow our mediocrity to make his sacrifice be in vain.
Gudari Moreno, until we meet again, may God keep you in the palm of His hand.
Agur eta Ohore
https://aboutbasquecountry.eus/en/2018/11/11/gudari-jose-moreno-of-the-san-andres-batallion-turns-100-zorionak-eta-eskerrik-asko/
Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country
