A great leader lay dying on the hot cobbled pavement of Hidalgo del Parral. Just five minutes had passed since our group had been ambushed by government assassins. I had hidden in the back seat of his Dodge whilst Villa had sprung towards his assailants, peeking over the driver’s seat just in time to see him plant a bullet in the heart of one the men before what seemed like hundreds of bullets drove themselves into his muscular body.

As they casually walked back to their vehicle, I ran to the body. I knew it would not be long before his suffering ended. His eyes darted from left to right until they caught on my hovering presence. Suddenly his fingers were gripping at the linen of my shirt, and he pulled my face down to his. My body tensed with fright at the great strength of the man in my arms.

“Don’t let it end like this,” he rasped, choking on his own blood. “Tell them I said something.”

With that his hand dropped from my head as his eyes rolled back into his own and his last breath sighed from his lips.