Abuelo Juan

Daniel L.
Period #2
3/13/12

Abuelo Juan

My grandfather’s name was Juan Zepeda, and he was a police commander in El Salvador in the 80’s. During that time, a rebel group called the FMLN was terrorizing the people of El Salvador. The rebel group claims they were trying to fight against the government but they would also kill innocent people.

One day my grandpa was out patrolling in a small pueblo and word came in that the rebel force was going to go through that little city. He was in full uniform, and without his partner so he knew he was going to stick out like a sore thumb. If he had got caught, he would have been tortured, and killed. So he went into a random house and asked the lady that lived there to let him borrow some clothes. Since they were evacuating everyone from the pueblo, he wore woman’s clothing and carried someone’s baby to make it seem that he was a girl. He passed through without any trouble and went home. Then in the headlines this appeared: ”Massacre at El Mozote left more than 1,000 civilians dead” (Kane).

My grandmother would have to hide my grandfather’s uniform on top of the roof because if the government or the rebels found it, they would kill everyone in the house. This quote says: “The, government-supported military, targeted anyone they suspected of supporting social and economic reform” (kane). The government couldn’t trust anyone because there would be rebels dressing up like governor soldiers for surprise attacks. So when my grandfather was out on patrol, my grandmother had to take care of the house. She was a strong lady, and protected the house when my grandpa wasn’t there.

The funny thing is that my mom married my dad who ended up finding out that my dads father was in the FMLN. My grandpa from my father’s side would make meetings for the rebel’s forces in secret places.