Costa Rica honors a humble drummer boy who sacrificed his life to defeat foreign invaders
Costa Rica celebrates the bravery of Juan Santamaría, a young drummer who turned the tide of a 19th-century war by volunteering for a suicide mission to burn down an enemy stronghold.
Every April 11, Costa Ricans honor Juan Santamaría, a humble soldier who became a national icon during the Second Battle of Rivas in 1856. Facing an army of foreign filibusters led by William Walker, the Costa Rican forces were pinned down by sharpshooters in a wooden hostel.
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