Above And Beyond The Call of Duty

Carlos Guerra columnist from the San Antonio Express News has penned a really good article about the PBS documentary, "The War". It is produced by the noted documentarian Ken Burns, who has also produced definitive works such as "The Civil War", "Jazz," and "Baseball". It is being reported that this supposed definitive history of the second world war is being produced without a Latino/Hispanic perspective.

I have emailed the Austin PBS station requesting information about the new documentary. As of yet I have not received a response.

If what is stated in the article is true then the documentary will fall short of the over all goal of PBS, to educate. I agree that if the contributions of Latinos is overlooked then a significant portion of our country's history is being deleted from our collective consciousness. I have not seen the documentary nor have I read much more than what is being reported but here are a few things that may be overlooked if there is no mention of Latinos.

On the foreign relations side, the fact that our neighbors to the south did not throw in their lots with the axis powers was a boon to the war effort here at home. There is an old Mexican lament, "So far from God, and so close to the United States." It would have been easily justifiable for the rest of the our hemisphere to have sided with the axis powers. If for nothing else, they could have stood up against the American jingoistic policy towards the southern nations. As to foreign relations, military support( though a token amount) was given to the Allied powers. I of course am referencing the air squadron 201, the Aztec Eagles. They were a group of Mexican airmen and pilots that fought in the war. Here is a link to a short blurb and a short four minute video.

But that is not the only example of foreign nationals helping with our war effort. Regardless of your opinion of the Bracero program, one thing can not be disputed, it provided the United States with a great pool of labor that helped us win the war. Funny thing is that after all these years this is still an issue in the United States.

On the home front Latinos also went to work, whether in the factories or on the farm, Latinos provided for our nations ability to fight the war. But that is not all, our fathers and mothers answered the call to arms and donned our nations uniform. They fought for the United States, a country for whom most weren't considered real Americans. Latinos fought in every major combat engagement and served in every theater of operation. For more information about Latinos I direct you to Among The Valiant. It is a book written by a local central Texas native with the introduction by LBJ. For those of you from San Marcos, you will be surprised to see a very young Augustine Lucio pictured in the book. Augustine is a long time family friend and was an important political force in central Texas.

Some may wonder why I call this posting Above And Beyond The Call of Duty? As an ethnic group Latinos have received more Congressional Medals of Honor than any other group in the twentieth century. We have fought for this country on the battlefield, on the farm, in the town square and at the ballot box. Why? I think the noted historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. said it best, "My country right or wrong. When right keep it right. When wrong make it right."




Gratias Tibi Ago Deus


Wonko's Bud