Tucson Region

Opinion by Ernesto Portillo Jr. : Latino vets of Tucson join outcry over 'War'

Opinion by Ernesto Portillo Jr.

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.26.2007

Frank Mendez was 16 years old when he enlisted in the Army in 1940. Three years later he waded ashore with the 1st Calvary Division in the invasion of the Philippines.

He was wounded in Manila during the rescue of more than 3,000 imprisoned American civilians, mainly women and children. Several days later Sgt. Mendez returned to combat leading his .50-caliber machine-gun squad.

Mendez, discharged and having been awarded a Purple Heart, returned home to Tucson, married, and he and his wife raised five children.

He is proud of his World War II service. He has faded newspaper clips, including one from 1945 in which he and his Tucson buddies, Andres Alday and Elias Lopez, were listed as wounded.

Mendez had three brothers who also served in the war.

The history of World War II is filled with similar stories of American Latino soldiers who fought in the "Good War." Many of them fell on Normandy's blood-red beaches or are buried in Arlington National Cemetery or in the Pacific Ocean.

But in an upcoming 15-hour PBS documentary, the contributions of Latino men and women during the war are ignored.

"It makes me angry we didn't get the credit we deserved," said Mendez, 83, who lives near the university.

He's not alone.

A national campaign waged by Latino groups and individuals across the country is taking PBS and Ken Burns, who co-produced "The War," to task for failing to include Latinos in the seven-part documentary. It begins airing Sept. 23, in Tucson on KUAT-TV, Channel 6.

"The stories of the Latino WWII generation are significant and should be included. The story of our country's wartime experiences are incomplete without including the telling of what happened to Latinos," according to Defend the Honor, the Texas-based campaign challenging PBS and Burns.

An estimated 500,000 Latinos served in the war. The series also does not include the wartime role of American Indians, whose heroes included the Navajo Code Talkers.

In response, Burns and PBS included interviews with two Latino Marines, and one American Indian soldier after the series was completed — for a total of 28 minutes, according to Defend the Honor.

Burns has said he did not intend tell the whole history of the war. PBS says the series is about the "personal accounts of a handful of men and women from four quintessentially American towns."

One of the towns is Sacramento, Calif., which has a sizable Latino population.

The filmmaker, who has produced documentaries acclaimed for their retelling of American history, has said his critics are impinging on his artistic freedom and imposing political correctness on his work.

Fair enough. Burns made it the way he saw fit, and no artist likes to be told how to do his work.

But Burns is open to criticism, especially when the criticism is correct. Burns didn't think it valuable to include Latinos in his version of the war, which probably will be lauded as a great documentary and be used as a teaching tool in public schools.

But that's exactly the point. The history of World War II, whether told by academics or popular filmmakers, too often overlook Latinos and other other minority groups.

Moreover, PBS, which receives public funding and presents itself as inclusive, failed to plug Burns' gaping hole.

This is not the first Burns' series to ignore Latinos. In his documentaries about baseball and jazz, two quintessential American cultural institutions, Latino contributions are cheapened with several minutes in each of the series.

Yet honest history shows Latinos critically present throughout the sport and music. Just like Latinos were in World War II.

? Contact columnist Ernesto Portillo Jr. at eportillo@ azstarnet.com or 573-4242. His blog is at go.azstarnet.com/blogs

$1 Sunday delivery - Subscribe to the Arizona Daily Star

Email this story

Print this story

Letter to the editor