U.S. Navy Gives Cesar Chavez Funeral Honors 22 Years After His Death

When Civil rights and labor leader Cesar Chavez passed away 22 years ago, he didn't receive full graveside honors from the U.S. Navy at his memorial in California--but because of a fellow Navy sailor, the past will change.

On Thursday, the 22nd anniversary of his death, Chavez received the moving and impactful recognition from the U.S. Navy, The Associated Press reports.

While Chavez was more known for his human rights activism than his time in the military, he served in the Navy just after World War II. While his time in the Navy was challenging, it ultimately made him stronger and a fierce trailblazer for human justice in the fields and beyond.

"Cesar endured discrimination in the Navy and at home during the '40s," The Cesar Chavez Foundation said in a statement. "Cesar belonged to a generation of Latinos and other people of color who returned home from the service after World War II determined to see that the country for which they sacrificed fulfilled its promise of equality and freedom. That motivated him to work for civil and labor rights starting in the early '50s."

The Cesar Chavez Foundation, which is hosting the ceremony, along with the National Park Service, which operates Chavez's memorial, commends the motivator, a current Navy sailor who learned that Chavez didn't receive the honors at the time of his death.

"Current sailors, veterans and Chavez relatives are expected to attend the formal ceremony that will include a Navy bugler playing 'Taps,' a rifle salute and a folding of a U.S. flag that will be presented to Chavez's widow, Helen," the AP adds.

In 2012, the U.S. Navy honored Chavez by launching a cargo ship it named the USNS Cesar Chavez, which went into international waters as part of the American effort in the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 last year.

While commemorations continue to come after 22 years, which makes all Chavez supporters thrilled, Paul Chavez, who is also the President and Chairman of the Cesar Chavez Foundation, told Latin Post in an earlier interview that his humble father might be a "kind of embarrassed" by all the attention.

"Because he felt that there was so much work to be done and that there would be more important things to be doing," he said. "But also he understood that there were so many people who made tremendous sacrifices against great odds whose names were lost in history."

Chavez, the iconic labor leader, fought for farmers to unionize, have better pay and work conditions as they tried to earn a living picking grapes in the fields of California.

He helped create the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers. His fight for equality, civil rights, political recognition and environmental justice wasn't just for farm workers, however, but for all Latino workers who were treated unfairly and weren't represented.