My family has been in Texas for many generations. Andrew Kent was my great-great-great grandfather.

Andrew Kent repeatedly answered the call when Texas needed him most.

Kent was a judge who chose delegates at Texas’ constitutional convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos. He was also no stranger to battle. He was one of the first Texas Rangers and on October 2, 1835, he and a few of his neighbors faced off against Santa Anna’s soldados at Gonzales. You may have seen the flag they flew: "Come and Take It."

Kent also took part in the siege and battle of Bexar and helped capture an old mission that was turned into a fort -- the Alamo.

But the battle for Texas’ freedom was far from over. By February 1836 the fort that Kent had helped capture was surrounded by the enemy. Its commander, Lt. Col. William Barret Travis, dispatched a letter desperately calling for reinforcements. Kent and 31 other men from Gonzales heard the call and rode to Travis’ aid. They were the last men to enter the Alamo. On March 6, 1836, my great-great-great grandfather passed from this earth and became one of the Immortal 32. He reinforced the Alamo in its darkest hour.

Now, the Alamo needs reinforcement again. Time and weather threaten the Church and Long Barrack, which are all we have left from 1836. The field on which my ancestor and the other Defenders bled and died is now under streets and sidewalks, and occupied by businesses that provide jobs but do not belong on sacred ground. The Alamo deserves better. Many of us Defender descendants have done everything we can to make it better.

The good news is, there is a plan to make it better. Land Commissioner George P. Bush is working on a plan for the Alamo that will do three things. Bush’s plan will preserve the Alamo Church and Long Barrack. This plan will recapture the Alamo battlefield from the streets and Plaza that now cover it up. This plan will reinforce the Alamo and its 1836 story. Our story.

Andrew Kent’s name is etched on the Cenotaph that stands on the Alamo battlefield. It’s the Defenders’ empty tomb. I bring my children and grandchildren to the Alamo often to see his name and hear about his sacrifice for Texas. While I prefer to see the Cenotaph stay where it is and am working toward that, the city of San Antonio, which owns it, may move it from the battlefield to where the Defenders’ funeral pyres are located, a short distance to the south. I think that would be out of sight, and out of mind. A better site on the grounds would be right outside what would be the main gate. That way, the battleground would be more like it was and the Cenotaph would have even more prominence. Either way, the Cenotaph will always stand. In fact, it will be saved, it will be repaired, and more Defenders’ names will be added to it.

The battle in 1836 makes the Alamo what it is: the Cradle of Texas Liberty. It defines Texas. In a few years’ time, if Bush's plan succeeds, we will see the Alamo become the sacred place it should be. No more carnival distractions. No more trucks driving through the battlefield and rattling and damaging the Alamo Church. It will have the museum it deserves with the Phil Collins collection. The Alamo will be the world's largest exhibit on the Texas Revolution.

Because of the battle in 1836, the Alamo is the heart of Texas, I think George P. Bush understands this, and his plan ensures that it always will be. 

Forrest Byas is an Alamo Defender Descendant