BAY CITY, MI (10-17-26) – The Saginaw chapter of the American G.I. Forum celebrated its 70th anniversary Saturday with a dinner and dance fundraiser at Bay City Country Club, marking seven decades of service to veterans and the community.

The anniversary celebration honored the chapter’s longstanding commitment to veterans while recognizing an organization whose national roots connect military service, educational opportunity and the fight for equal treatment.

The evening’s advertised program included dinner followed by dancing, with Los G Notes scheduled to provide the musical entertainment.

For Saginaw’s Latino community, the milestone represents a local connection to a broader American story: veterans returning from military service and organizing to secure the rights and opportunities they had earned.

Dr. Héctor P. García, a physician and World War II Army veteran, founded the American G.I. Forum in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1948. The organization initially addressed discrimination against Mexican American veterans and barriers to receiving medical care and veterans’ benefits.

Its advocacy expanded to education, employment and civil rights, linking the needs of former service members with opportunities for their families.

The organization gained national attention in 1949 through its advocacy for the family of Pvt. Félix Longoria Jr., a Mexican American soldier killed during World War II. After a Texas funeral home denied his family use of its chapel, García and the Forum helped bring national attention to the discrimination.

That history provides the backdrop for the Saginaw chapter’s anniversary. Seventy years after its establishment, the chapter marked its own place in a movement built around service to veterans, support for families and educational opportunity.

Saturday’s fundraiser commemorated that local legacy while drawing attention to the organization’s continuing mission.