Review the decades after World War II through the early 1960s, as swelling…
Latino Americans, Ep. 03 - War and Peace
![Latino Americans, Ep. 03 - War and Peace Latino Americans, Ep. 03 - War and Peace](http://misc.docuseek2.com/pragda/images/titles/pr-latam3_still.jpg)
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Trace the World War II years and those that follow, as Latin Americans serve their new country by the hundreds of thousands — yet still face discrimination and a fight for civil rights in the United States.
Series Description
The first major documentary series for television to chronicle the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos, who have helped shape North America over the last 500-plus years and have become, with more than 50 million people, the largest minority group in the U.S. The changing and yet repeating context of American history provides a backdrop for the drama of individual lives. It is a story of immigration and redemption, of anguish and celebration, of the gradual construction of a new American identity that connects and empowers millions of people today.
Citation
Main credits
Bratt, Benjamin (narrator)
McCabe, Daniel (film producer)
Valadez, John J. (film producer)
Other credits
Cinematography, Vicente Franco, Elia Lyssy; editors, Daniel McCabe, Manuel Tsingaris; music, Joseph Julian Gonzalez.
Distributor subjects
Latin American Studies; Culture + Identity; Race + Ethnicity; Political Science; History; Migration Studies; Latinx; Sociology; North America; ExileKeywords
00:00:01.126 --> 00:00:02.919
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THIS PROGRAM POSSIBLE.
00:00:03.002 --> 00:00:05.422
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL PBS STATION.
00:00:09.384 --> 00:00:11.594
Narrator:
IN THE EARLY 1940s,
00:00:11.678 --> 00:00:15.598
WHILE SERVING ABOARD
THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER
USS "ENTERPRISE,"
00:00:15.682 --> 00:00:17.517
ENLISTED MAN CHARLES WHEELER
00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:21.104
HEARD SOME UNLIKELY NEWS
ABOUT A NEW OFFICER.
00:00:21.187 --> 00:00:23.898
I HEARD ABOUT ONE
OF OUR NEW PILOTS
00:00:23.982 --> 00:00:28.945
THAT COME ABOARD SHIP,
THAT HE WAS A MEXICAN BOY.
00:00:29.028 --> 00:00:30.321
AND I THOUGHT,
"I AIN'T BELIEVING THAT."
00:00:33.158 --> 00:00:36.035
WHEELER, TOO,
HAD MEXICAN ANCESTRY,
00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:38.204
BUT HE'D NEVER SEEN
A MEXICAN-AMERICAN PILOT
00:00:38.288 --> 00:00:43.460
UNTIL HE MET
ENSIGN MANUEL GONZALES
FROM CALIFORNIA.
00:00:43.543 --> 00:00:45.754
THEY SOON GREW CLOSE.
00:00:45.837 --> 00:00:49.299
WE BONDED
OVER OUR MEXICAN BACKGROUND,
00:00:49.382 --> 00:00:51.593
AND IT WAS LIKE HAVING
A NEW FRIEND.
00:00:54.596 --> 00:00:58.141
ON THE MORNING
OF DECEMBER 7th, 1941,
00:00:58.224 --> 00:01:02.562
THE SHIP WAS AT SEA,
2 DAYS BEHIND SCHEDULE.
00:01:02.645 --> 00:01:05.815
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SAFE
IN PORT AT PEARL HARBOR.
00:01:11.905 --> 00:01:14.324
PRIOR TO GOING INTO ANY PORT,
00:01:14.407 --> 00:01:17.494
WE ALWAYS SENT
A FEW OF OUR AIRCRAFT IN
00:01:17.577 --> 00:01:19.287
TO MAKE ARRANGEMENTS.
00:01:19.370 --> 00:01:24.542
SO, VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING,
THEY LAUNCHED THE DIVE-BOMBERS,
00:01:24.626 --> 00:01:30.340
AND ENSIGN GONZALES HAPPENED
TO BE IN THE SECOND LAUNCHING,
00:01:30.423 --> 00:01:32.467
AND THOSE WERE THE ONES
THAT GOT THERE
00:01:32.550 --> 00:01:37.889
WHEN-WHEN THE JAPANESE
WERE-WERE BLOWING THE PLACE UP.
00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:44.437
THE PLANES
FROM THE "ENTERPRISE"
00:01:44.521 --> 00:01:47.774
STUMBLED INTO THE MIDDLE
OF THE SURPRISE ATTACK
00:01:47.857 --> 00:01:50.610
AND SOON FOUND THEMSELVES
UNDER FIRE FROM BOTH SIDES.
00:01:50.693 --> 00:01:54.614
[MACHINE-GUN FIRE]
00:01:54.697 --> 00:01:56.115
BACK ON THE "ENTERPRISE,"
00:01:56.199 --> 00:01:59.244
A STARTLING TRANSMISSION
FROM ENSIGN GONZALES
00:01:59.327 --> 00:02:01.412
BROKE THE STANDARD
RADIO SILENCE.
00:02:01.496 --> 00:02:08.169
HE PLEADED, "DON'T SHOOT!
PLEASE DON'T SHOOT!
00:02:08.253 --> 00:02:11.172
FRIENDLY AIRCRAFT."
00:02:11.256 --> 00:02:16.261
AND THOSE WERE THE LAST WORDS
THE MAN EVER SAID.
00:02:19.681 --> 00:02:22.809
AMERICANS LOST
A DAMN GOOD PILOT,
00:02:22.892 --> 00:02:26.688
AND I LOST A GOOD FRIEND.
00:02:29.399 --> 00:02:32.986
ENSIGN MANUEL GONZALES
WAS ONE OF THE VERY FIRST
00:02:33.069 --> 00:02:37.448
AMERICAN CASUALTIES
OF WORLD WAR II,
00:02:37.532 --> 00:02:39.993
ONE OF AN ESTIMATED
HALF-MILLION LATINOS
00:02:40.076 --> 00:02:41.828
WHO SERVED IN THAT WAR.
00:02:41.911 --> 00:02:44.581
THEY CAME FROM ALL OVER--
00:02:44.664 --> 00:02:49.043
THE BARRIOS IN L.A.,
THE CASERIOS OF PUERTO RICO,
00:02:49.127 --> 00:02:51.504
THE PUEBLOS OF NEW MEXICO,
00:02:51.588 --> 00:02:54.674
THE FARMS AND BORDER TOWNS
OF TEXAS--
00:02:54.757 --> 00:02:57.552
AND THEY FOUGHT...
00:02:57.635 --> 00:03:02.891
IN ALL THE MAJOR BATTLES
ACROSS EUROPE AND THE PACIFIC.
00:03:04.767 --> 00:03:07.312
AND LIKE OTHER AMERICANS,
00:03:07.395 --> 00:03:10.398
THE EXPERIENCE
WOULD LEAVE THEM CHANGED.
00:03:10.481 --> 00:03:11.941
IN JUST A FEW YEARS,
00:03:12.025 --> 00:03:14.569
A MEXICAN-AMERICAN DOCTOR
FROM TEXAS
00:03:14.652 --> 00:03:18.781
WOULD BE TRANSFORMED
INTO A TIRELESS ADVOCATE
OF CIVIL RIGHTS.
00:03:18.865 --> 00:03:20.450
ON THE HOME FRONT,
00:03:20.533 --> 00:03:22.702
A TEENAGE GIRL
WOULD OVERCOME PREJUDICE
00:03:22.785 --> 00:03:24.287
TO JOIN THE WAR EFFORT,
00:03:24.370 --> 00:03:27.081
HELPING TO BUILD BOMBERS
AND FIGHTERS--
00:03:27.165 --> 00:03:30.168
ROSITA THE RIVETER.
00:03:30.251 --> 00:03:33.713
AND AN ARMY SOLDIER WOULD BECOME
THE FIRST MEXICAN NATIONAL
00:03:33.796 --> 00:03:36.382
TO EARN THE CONGRESSIONAL
MEDAL OF HONOR,
00:03:36.466 --> 00:03:40.094
ONLY TO BE REFUSED SERVICE
IN HIS HOME STATE.
00:03:42.138 --> 00:03:43.473
FIGHTING A WAR OVERSEAS
00:03:43.556 --> 00:03:49.312
WOULD TRANSFORM THE LATINO FIGHT
FOR CIVIL RIGHTS BACK HOME.
00:03:54.442 --> 00:03:56.402
[BELL TOLLING]
00:04:00.114 --> 00:04:02.867
WHEN THE UNITED STATES
ENTERED THE WAR
00:04:02.951 --> 00:04:05.328
AFTER THE ATTACK
ON PEARL HARBOR,
00:04:05.411 --> 00:04:08.581
A MEXICAN-AMERICAN DOCTOR
COMPLETING HIS RESIDENCY
00:04:08.665 --> 00:04:10.166
IN A NEBRASKA HOSPITAL
00:04:10.249 --> 00:04:12.752
IMMEDIATELY VOLUNTEERED
FOR SERVICE.
00:04:12.835 --> 00:04:17.632
HIS NAME WAS HECTOR P. GARCIA.
00:04:17.715 --> 00:04:21.052
I. Garcia: HECTOR DECIDED THIS
WAS THE CALL OF THE NATION.
00:04:21.135 --> 00:04:22.345
HE WAS GOING TO RESPOND.
00:04:22.428 --> 00:04:24.389
HE WENT TO THE DRAFT BOARD,
SAID, "I WANT TO GO IN."
00:04:24.472 --> 00:04:27.433
AND HE TOLD THEM,
"I'M A DOCTOR,
A MEDICAL DOCTOR.
00:04:27.517 --> 00:04:30.103
I'D LIKE TO BE
A MEDICAL OFFICER."
00:04:30.186 --> 00:04:32.271
IN ADDITION
TO A MEDICAL DEGREE,
00:04:32.355 --> 00:04:36.025
GARCIA HAD SPENT SEVERAL YEARS
IN THE ARMY RESERVES.
00:04:36.109 --> 00:04:37.777
Ramos:
RATHER THAN THE MILITARY
00:04:37.860 --> 00:04:39.195
REALLY LOOKING
AT HIS CREDENTIALS,
00:04:39.278 --> 00:04:40.446
WHICH ARE REALLY IMPECCABLE
00:04:40.530 --> 00:04:44.409
AS A MEDICAL PHYSICIAN
AND COLLEGE GRADUATE,
00:04:44.492 --> 00:04:47.620
IT'S ASSUMED
THAT NO MEXICAN CAN
POSSIBLY HAVE THAT PEDIGREE,
00:04:47.704 --> 00:04:50.915
AND HE IS PUT IMMEDIATELY
INTO THE INFANTRY.
00:04:50.999 --> 00:04:52.125
AAH!
00:04:52.208 --> 00:04:54.419
GARCIA TREATED THE DECISION
AS AN OVERSIGHT.
00:04:54.502 --> 00:04:58.881
DURING TRAINING, HE CONTINUED
TO LOBBY FOR THE MEDICAL CORPS.
00:04:58.965 --> 00:05:01.634
JUST BEFORE HE SHIPPED OUT
FOR NORTH AFRICA,
00:05:01.718 --> 00:05:03.136
THE MILITARY RECONSIDERED.
00:05:03.219 --> 00:05:06.597
I. Garcia: THEY FINALLY CAME
TO HIM AND SAID,
00:05:06.681 --> 00:05:07.765
"ARE YOU SURE
YOU'RE A MEDICAL DOCTOR?
00:05:07.849 --> 00:05:08.975
"WHERE DID YOU GET
YOUR TRAINING?
00:05:09.058 --> 00:05:11.310
IN GUADALAJARA
OR SOME SCHOOL IN MEXICO?"
00:05:11.394 --> 00:05:15.189
HE SAID, "NO, I WENT TO
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
AT GALVESTON.
00:05:15.273 --> 00:05:18.067
DID MY RESIDENCY
IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA."
00:05:18.151 --> 00:05:20.903
AND AT FIRST IT WAS VERY HARD
FOR THEM TO BELIEVE THAT,
00:05:20.987 --> 00:05:23.823
BUT EVENTUALLY,
THEY ACCEPTED THAT.
00:05:26.325 --> 00:05:29.912
IN LATE 1942, GARCIA ARRIVED
IN NORTH AFRICA...
00:05:31.664 --> 00:05:35.501
AS THE BATTALION SURGEON
FOR AN ENGINEERING GROUP,
00:05:35.585 --> 00:05:38.421
BUT THIS WASN'T HIS FIRST WAR.
00:05:40.423 --> 00:05:42.800
HE'D BEEN BORN
IN LLERA, MEXICO,
00:05:42.884 --> 00:05:44.927
IN THE MIDDLE
OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION,
00:05:45.011 --> 00:05:48.931
A BRUTAL CONFLICT
THAT TOOK A MILLION LIVES.
00:05:49.015 --> 00:05:50.767
FLEEING THE VIOLENCE,
00:05:50.850 --> 00:05:55.271
HIS FAMILY IMMIGRATED TO A SMALL
SOUTH TEXAS TOWN, MERCEDES,
00:05:55.354 --> 00:05:58.691
WHERE RELATIVES OWNED
A DRY GOODS STORE.
00:05:58.775 --> 00:06:01.527
ALTHOUGH
LEGALLY CONSIDERED WHITE,
00:06:01.611 --> 00:06:05.364
MEXICANS AND MEXICAN-AMERICANS
WERE SEGREGATED FROM ANGLOS,
00:06:05.448 --> 00:06:07.450
WHO HELD ALL THE POWER.
00:06:07.533 --> 00:06:11.537
SHOOTINGS AND LYNCHINGS
OF MEXICANS WERE COMMON,
00:06:11.621 --> 00:06:15.833
ESPECIALLY IN SOUTH TEXAS.
00:06:18.377 --> 00:06:21.089
ONE OF THE REASONS
WHY THIS TRANSITION
00:06:21.172 --> 00:06:22.632
WAS SO TRAUMATIC
FOR THE GARCIA FAMILY
00:06:22.715 --> 00:06:25.843
IS THAT UNLIKE MANY
OF THE OTHER FAMILIES
THAT CAME NORTH,
00:06:25.927 --> 00:06:27.804
PROBABLY THE PREPONDERANCE,
OBVIOUSLY,
00:06:27.887 --> 00:06:30.515
THE GARCIA FAMILY
WAS VERY ESTABLISHED.
00:06:30.598 --> 00:06:32.725
THEY WERE UNIVERSITY
AND COLLEGE EDUCATED.
00:06:32.809 --> 00:06:37.396
THEY CAME INTO A SITUATION
REALLY UNPREPARED FOR WHAT
THEY WERE CONFRONTING--
00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:39.649
TREMENDOUS RESISTANCE BASED
00:06:39.732 --> 00:06:42.860
ON THEIR NATIONAL
AND RACIAL IDENTITY.
00:06:42.944 --> 00:06:46.072
THOUGH EDUCATORS
BY PROFESSION,
00:06:46.155 --> 00:06:48.199
OUTSIDE THEIR HOME,
HECTOR'S PARENTS
00:06:48.282 --> 00:06:49.784
WOULD NEVER TEACH AGAIN.
00:06:49.867 --> 00:06:53.746
INSIDE WAS A DIFFERENT STORY.
00:06:53.830 --> 00:06:55.873
RIGHT AFTER WORK,
THE FATHER AND THE MOTHER
00:06:55.957 --> 00:06:57.166
WOULD SIT THEM DOWN
AT THE KITCHEN TABLE,
00:06:57.250 --> 00:07:01.254
AND THEY WOULD GO OVER
MATHEMATICS, HISTORY.
00:07:01.337 --> 00:07:04.465
THEY WOULD READ TO THEM
FROM THE NEWSPAPER.
00:07:04.549 --> 00:07:06.050
Ramos:
ALL OF THEIR CHILDREN,
00:07:06.134 --> 00:07:09.428
HECTOR'S SIBLINGS,
WERE EDUCATED.
00:07:09.512 --> 00:07:10.513
THEY ALL WENT TO COLLEGE.
00:07:10.596 --> 00:07:12.223
MOST OF THEM
BECAME PHYSICIANS,
00:07:12.306 --> 00:07:15.768
HECTOR BEING AMONG THE FIRST
OF THEM TO ACHIEVE THAT.
00:07:15.852 --> 00:07:18.062
GARCIA
EARNED HIS MEDICAL DEGREE
00:07:18.146 --> 00:07:21.065
FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
AT GALVESTON,
00:07:21.149 --> 00:07:23.234
BUT WHEN HE SOUGHT A RESIDENCY
IN TEXAS,
00:07:23.317 --> 00:07:26.904
HE COULDN'T FIND A HOSPITAL
THAT WOULD TAKE HIM
00:07:26.988 --> 00:07:30.074
AND ENDED UP
AT CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY
IN NEBRASKA.
00:07:30.158 --> 00:07:33.119
DESPITE
THE APPARENT DISCRIMINATION,
00:07:33.202 --> 00:07:37.081
GARCIA DIDN'T PERCEIVE IT
AS SUCH.
00:07:37.165 --> 00:07:40.459
I. Garcia: IN THE EARLY YEARS,
HECTOR HAD A TENDENCY TO FEEL
00:07:40.543 --> 00:07:44.255
IF YOU EDUCATED YOURSELF,
IF YOU WERE ASSERTIVE,
IF YOU WERE ARTICULATE,
00:07:44.338 --> 00:07:46.757
PEOPLE DIDN'T DISCRIMINATE
AGAINST YOU,
00:07:46.841 --> 00:07:51.220
THAT THAT WAS MEANT
FOR THE POOR, BROWNER
MEXICAN-AMERICANS.
00:07:51.304 --> 00:07:55.558
IN FACT, GARCIA WOULD FEEL
HIS TIME IN THE MILITARY
00:07:55.641 --> 00:07:58.936
WAS FREE OF PREJUDICE.
00:07:59.020 --> 00:08:03.983
HE SERVED WITH DISTINCTION
IN NORTH AFRICA AND ITALY.
00:08:05.902 --> 00:08:08.738
BY THE WAR'S END,
HE'D BE PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN,
00:08:08.821 --> 00:08:10.781
THOUGH THAT WAS THE RANK
TYPICALLY GIVEN MEDICAL DOCTORS
00:08:10.865 --> 00:08:14.202
WHEN THEY FIRST ENTERED
THE ARMY.
00:08:17.413 --> 00:08:21.334
[MARCH PLAYING]
00:08:21.417 --> 00:08:23.419
THE LATINOS THAT SERVED
IN WORLD WAR II
00:08:23.502 --> 00:08:27.215
WERE OVERWHELMINGLY
OF MEXICAN DESCENT,
00:08:27.298 --> 00:08:30.801
BUT OVER 65,000 PUERTO RICANS
SERVED AS WELL.
00:08:30.885 --> 00:08:33.095
Announcer: TROOPS
AND THE ARTILLERY ON PARADE.
00:08:33.179 --> 00:08:35.723
THIS TAKES US
TO THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
IMPORTANCE OF PUERTO RICO.
00:08:35.806 --> 00:08:40.770
THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
IS CREATING A MAGNIFICENT
MILITARY STRONGHOLD.
00:08:40.853 --> 00:08:43.314
Narrator: AS U.S. CITIZENS,
00:08:43.397 --> 00:08:47.109
PUERTO RICANS WERE SUBJECT
TO THE DRAFT.
00:08:47.193 --> 00:08:50.112
OTHERS VOLUNTEERED
OUT OF PATRIOTISM
00:08:50.196 --> 00:08:54.033
OR HAD ENTERED THE MILITARY
BEFORE THE ATTACK
ON PEARL HARBOR
00:08:54.116 --> 00:08:56.035
AS A WAY TO ESCAPE
THE DIRE EFFECTS
00:08:56.118 --> 00:08:58.371
OF THE DEPRESSION
ON PUERTO RICO.
00:08:58.454 --> 00:09:00.748
♪♪
00:09:02.917 --> 00:09:05.962
MARCOS MELENDEZ
HAD MADE SOME MONEY
00:09:06.045 --> 00:09:09.465
AS A WORKING MUSICIAN,
00:09:09.548 --> 00:09:12.343
BUT IN 1939,
HIS FATHER ENCOURAGED HIM
00:09:12.426 --> 00:09:15.721
TO JOIN THE MILITARY
FOR THE STEADY PAY.
00:09:19.767 --> 00:09:23.688
I GREW UP IN THE ARMY.
00:09:23.771 --> 00:09:26.482
THEY MAKE ME A MAN
00:09:26.565 --> 00:09:29.568
WITH THE DISCIPLINE,
00:09:29.652 --> 00:09:34.282
BETTER FOOD, GOOD MONEY.
00:09:34.365 --> 00:09:36.617
IT'S A GOOD LIVING.
00:09:42.373 --> 00:09:45.501
LIKE MANY ISLANDERS
IN WORLD WAR II,
00:09:45.584 --> 00:09:49.171
MELENDEZ ENDED UP
IN THE 65th INFANTRY REGIMENT,
00:09:49.255 --> 00:09:54.427
SEGREGATED BY THE ARMY
TO BE ALL PUERTO RICAN.
00:09:54.510 --> 00:09:58.264
WITH THE 65th,
HE WOULD EVENTUALLY
BOARD A SHIP FOR EUROPE,
00:09:58.347 --> 00:10:02.018
HIS MUSICAL TALENT EASING
TENSIONS DURING THE CROSSING.
00:10:05.313 --> 00:10:08.566
WHEN WE-WE REACHED THE SHIP
00:10:08.649 --> 00:10:11.736
AND WE GET THE PEOPLE
IN THERE,
00:10:11.819 --> 00:10:16.198
SO MANY PEOPLE IN THERE
WANT MORALE HIGH,
00:10:16.282 --> 00:10:20.161
SO I PLAY THE GUITAR,
AND THEY HAVE FUN.
00:10:21.579 --> 00:10:24.999
[SINGING IN SPANISH]
00:11:04.413 --> 00:11:06.248
THE 65th WOULD SEE ACTION
00:11:06.332 --> 00:11:09.043
IN ITALY, CENTRAL EUROPE
AND GERMANY.
00:11:21.263 --> 00:11:23.265
WITH THE EXCEPTION
OF THOSE FROM PUERTO RICO,
00:11:23.349 --> 00:11:25.226
THERE WERE FEW
ALL-LATINO UNITS
00:11:25.309 --> 00:11:29.188
IN THE U.S. MILITARY
IN WORLD WAR II.
00:11:29.271 --> 00:11:33.067
IN CONTRAST TO THE SEGREGATION
OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS,
00:11:33.150 --> 00:11:36.821
MOST LATINOS FOUGHT ALONGSIDE
ANGLO SOLDIERS AND SAILORS,
00:11:36.904 --> 00:11:42.284
EXPERIENCING THE SAME TERRORS
AND BOREDOM,
00:11:42.368 --> 00:11:47.331
BROTHERHOOD AND DEATH.
00:11:47.415 --> 00:11:54.004
FOR MANY LATINOS,
IT WAS THE FIRST TASTE
OF FULL CITIZENSHIP,
00:11:54.088 --> 00:11:57.675
TO BE TREATED
AS EQUAL TO ANGLOS,
00:11:57.758 --> 00:12:00.344
AND SOME WOULD CHALLENGE ANYONE
00:12:00.428 --> 00:12:04.390
TO TAKE THAT EQUALITY AWAY
AFTER THE WAR,
00:12:04.473 --> 00:12:07.935
LIKE MEDAL OF HONOR WINNER
MACARIO GARCIA.
00:12:10.271 --> 00:12:14.233
GARCIA WAS A MEXICAN NATIONAL
FROM SUGAR LAND, TEXAS,
00:12:14.316 --> 00:12:18.571
WHERE HE WORKED
AS A MIGRANT PICKING COTTON
AND TENDED CATTLE.
00:12:18.654 --> 00:12:21.782
HIS PARENTS
HAD MOVED FROM MEXICO
IN SEARCH OF A BETTER LIFE.
00:12:21.866 --> 00:12:25.327
THEY FOUND A HARSH EXISTENCE.
00:12:25.411 --> 00:12:27.288
Bailey:
IT WAS A ROUGH LIFE.
00:12:27.371 --> 00:12:29.707
A ONE-ROOM SHACK AT BEST,
00:12:29.790 --> 00:12:33.544
HOLES IN THE WALLS,
HOLES IN THE CEILING,
00:12:33.627 --> 00:12:35.921
BUT THEY WERE PEOPLE
WHO WERE WILLING
00:12:36.005 --> 00:12:39.216
TO MAKE IT--MAKE IT WORK,
00:12:39.300 --> 00:12:42.553
BECAUSE THEY WANTED A BETTER
LIFE FOR THEIR CHILDREN.
00:12:48.642 --> 00:12:50.728
IN JUNE 1944,
00:12:50.811 --> 00:12:54.106
2 DAYS AFTER
THE D-DAY INVASION OF EUROPE,
00:12:54.190 --> 00:12:57.234
PRIVATE MACARIO GARCIA LANDED
AT NORMANDY
00:12:57.318 --> 00:13:01.614
AS ONE OF THE REPLACEMENTS FOR
MEN LOST IN THE BLOODY FIGHTING.
00:13:01.697 --> 00:13:05.117
THE ARMY ASSIGNED HIM
TO THE 22nd INFANTRY REGIMENT,
00:13:05.201 --> 00:13:10.289
WHICH SOON BLAZED ITS WAY
ACROSS FRANCE AND BELGIUM.
00:13:10.372 --> 00:13:12.625
FIRE!
00:13:12.708 --> 00:13:15.336
Narrator:
BUT BY THE FALL OF '44,
00:13:15.419 --> 00:13:17.922
THE ALLIES' RAPID ADVANCE
HAD GROUND TO A HALT
00:13:18.005 --> 00:13:21.800
AT THE GERMAN BORDER
AND THE HURTGEN FOREST.
00:13:21.884 --> 00:13:23.802
[INDISTINCT]
00:13:23.886 --> 00:13:26.972
FOR GARCIA
AND THE U.S. MILITARY,
00:13:27.056 --> 00:13:28.891
THIS WAS A NEW KIND
OF FIGHTING.
00:13:28.974 --> 00:13:32.770
THE DENSE CONIFER FOREST
WITH FEW ROADS
00:13:32.853 --> 00:13:35.940
MADE TROOP MOVEMENTS SLOW
AND HARD FOUGHT.
00:13:36.023 --> 00:13:40.319
GERMAN ARTILLERY SHELLS EXPLODED
IN TREETOPS,
00:13:40.402 --> 00:13:43.447
TURNING THEM
INTO DEADLY SHARDS.
00:13:43.531 --> 00:13:48.244
WELL-PLACED GERMAN MACHINE GUNS
PRODUCED WITHERING CROSSFIRE.
00:13:50.246 --> 00:13:55.459
ON NOVEMBER 27th, GARCIA'S
BAKER COMPANY WAS PINNED DOWN
00:13:55.543 --> 00:14:00.047
AS THEY ATTEMPTED
TO TAKE A HILL OVERLOOKING
THE TOWN OF GROSSHAU.
00:14:00.130 --> 00:14:05.135
GARCIA WAS ORDERED FORWARD
WITH ANOTHER SCOUT.
00:14:05.219 --> 00:14:09.431
Bailey: WHEN MACARIO
AND HIS OTHER SCOUT,
J.P. EDWARDS,
00:14:09.515 --> 00:14:11.600
START ACROSS THE OPEN AREA,
00:14:11.684 --> 00:14:14.895
J.P.'S HIT
BETWEEN THE EYES,
00:14:14.979 --> 00:14:17.273
FALLS DEAD
AT MACARIO'S FEET.
00:14:17.356 --> 00:14:19.191
MACARIO'S HIT
IN THE SHOULDER,
00:14:19.275 --> 00:14:22.027
SPUN AROUND,
KNOCKED TO THE GROUND.
00:14:22.111 --> 00:14:25.823
GARCIA CRAWLED
INTO THE UNDERBRUSH.
00:14:25.906 --> 00:14:29.952
AS HE BEGAN TO FLANK THE SOURCE
OF THE FIRE, A MACHINE-GUN NEST,
00:14:30.035 --> 00:14:32.121
HE SURPRISED A GERMAN SOLDIER.
00:14:32.204 --> 00:14:33.706
THEY TRADED SHOTS.
00:14:33.789 --> 00:14:34.957
[GUNSHOTS]
00:14:35.040 --> 00:14:39.169
GARCIA HIT IN THE FOOT,
THE GERMAN KILLED.
00:14:39.253 --> 00:14:41.463
GARCIA KEPT GOING.
00:14:41.547 --> 00:14:44.550
HE FINALLY COMES UP
ON THAT MACHINE-GUN NEST.
00:14:44.633 --> 00:14:46.677
MACARIO SHOOTS.
00:14:46.760 --> 00:14:51.140
ONE GERMAN CLAWS AT THE AIR
AND FALLS BACKWARD,
00:14:51.223 --> 00:14:54.476
THE OTHER DOUBLES OVER
AND FALLS FORWARD.
00:14:54.560 --> 00:14:58.397
GARCIA THREW A GRENADE
TO DESTROY THE GUN
00:14:58.480 --> 00:14:59.565
AND LATER RECALLED
SEEING THE BODIES
00:14:59.648 --> 00:15:03.068
OF THE DEAD GERMANS SHUDDER.
00:15:03.152 --> 00:15:05.154
AND HE STARTS
BACK DOWN THE HILL.
00:15:05.237 --> 00:15:10.284
BUT JUST AS HE BEGAN HIS REPORT
TO HIS COMPANY COMMANDER...
00:15:10.367 --> 00:15:12.328
[MACHINE-GUN FIRE]
00:15:12.411 --> 00:15:15.164
...A SECOND MACHINE GUN
OPENED FIRE.
00:15:15.247 --> 00:15:17.333
AND HE JUST TAKES OFF.
00:15:17.416 --> 00:15:21.086
HE'S BACK ACROSS
THE OPEN AREA ALONE,
BACK UP THE HILL.
00:15:21.170 --> 00:15:23.922
GARCIA LOCATED
THE SECOND MACHINE-GUN NEST
00:15:24.006 --> 00:15:26.759
AND TRIED TO DESTROY IT
WITH A GRENADE,
00:15:26.842 --> 00:15:29.345
BUT WOUNDED, HE MISSED.
00:15:31.096 --> 00:15:33.140
HE HAS TO GET CLOSER,
AND HE THROWS,
00:15:33.223 --> 00:15:34.475
LOBS ANOTHER ONE IN THERE,
00:15:34.558 --> 00:15:38.020
AND THIS TIME HE'S ACCURATE
WITH HIS THROW.
00:15:42.941 --> 00:15:44.485
MACARIO'S ACTIONS,
00:15:44.568 --> 00:15:47.780
TAKING OUT 2 MACHINE-GUN NESTS
SINGLEHANDEDLY,
00:15:47.863 --> 00:15:50.908
ALLOWED 2 COMPANIES
TO CHARGE THE HILL
00:15:50.991 --> 00:15:53.952
IN A SUCCESSFUL ASSAULT.
00:15:54.036 --> 00:15:56.455
AND AT THE END OF THE DAY,
HE'S A BLOODY MESS,
00:15:56.538 --> 00:16:00.376
HE'S WOUNDED,
AND YET HE'S REFUSING
TO GO TO THE REAR.
00:16:00.459 --> 00:16:04.296
HE'S REFUSING ANY HELP,
BECAUSE HIS PLACE IS
WITH HIS MEN.
00:16:04.380 --> 00:16:08.050
AND THAT'S THE KIND OF MAN
THAT MACARIO GARCIA WAS.
00:16:08.133 --> 00:16:13.889
GARCIA WOULD SPEND 2 MONTHS
IN ARMY HOSPITALS
00:16:13.972 --> 00:16:16.058
RECOVERING FROM HIS WOUNDS.
00:16:16.141 --> 00:16:17.309
REPORTS OF HIS HEROISM
00:16:17.393 --> 00:16:20.020
HAD ALREADY STARTED
UP THE CHAIN OF COMMAND.
00:16:24.024 --> 00:16:26.777
[BAND PLAYING MARCH]
00:16:26.860 --> 00:16:29.947
EVEN BEFORE MOST MEN
HAD SEEN BATTLE,
00:16:30.030 --> 00:16:33.492
THE WAR EFFORT CHANGED THE LIFE
OF LATINOS ON THE HOME FRONT.
00:16:33.575 --> 00:16:36.912
CALLING MILLIONS
TO MILITARY SERVICE
00:16:36.995 --> 00:16:39.415
CREATED MASSIVE LABOR SHORTAGES.
00:16:39.498 --> 00:16:42.626
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
00:16:42.710 --> 00:16:43.836
BROUGHT RURAL MEXICANS
ACROSS THE BORDER
00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:47.464
IN A GUEST WORKER
BRACERO PROGRAM.
00:16:47.548 --> 00:16:48.757
IN THE CITIES,
00:16:48.841 --> 00:16:51.176
THE RAPIDLY EXPANDING
DEFENSE INDUSTRIES
00:16:51.260 --> 00:16:56.473
IGNORED TRADITION AND ACTIVELY
SOUGHT WOMEN AND MINORITIES.
00:16:58.892 --> 00:17:02.187
FOR INSTANCE YOU SEE
IN THE AIRCRAFT INDUSTRY
IN LOS ANGELES,
00:17:02.271 --> 00:17:05.774
DOUGLAS AIRCRAFT PUTS OUT
HUGE BILLBOARDS IN SPANISH,
00:17:05.858 --> 00:17:10.279
ESSENTIALLY SAYING,
"WE HAVE JOBS AND WE WANT
MEXICANS TO APPLY."
00:17:10.362 --> 00:17:12.906
THIS IS A TREMENDOUS SHIFT.
00:17:13.824 --> 00:17:16.785
A YOUNG TEENAGER,
CARMEN GURROLA,
00:17:16.869 --> 00:17:18.829
QUIT A JOB IN A SEWING FACTORY
00:17:18.912 --> 00:17:20.706
TO WORK AT A GOODYEAR PLANT
00:17:20.789 --> 00:17:22.875
MANUFACTURING
RUBBERIZED GAS TANKS
00:17:22.958 --> 00:17:25.544
FOR FIGHTERS AND BOMBERS.
00:17:25.627 --> 00:17:28.338
HER JOB REQUIRED CLIMBING
INSIDE THE TANK
00:17:28.422 --> 00:17:30.591
AFTER IT HAD COOLED.
00:17:30.674 --> 00:17:33.677
Gurrola: JUST LIKE GETTING
INSIDE OF A COFFIN.
00:17:33.761 --> 00:17:35.679
MY FACE WAS TOTALLY BLACK
FROM THE RUBBER.
00:17:35.763 --> 00:17:40.684
OF COURSE I HAD
A BANDANNA, COVERALLS.
00:17:40.768 --> 00:17:44.229
I-I DIDN'T LOOK LIKE A GIRL.
[LAUGHS]
00:17:44.313 --> 00:17:47.357
YOU FELT PROUD THAT
YOU WERE DOING SOMETHING
00:17:47.441 --> 00:17:50.778
FOR THE DEFENSE
OF THE COUNTRY.
00:17:53.113 --> 00:17:56.700
AND I THOUGHT EVEN IF I DON'T
SPEAK ENGLISH VERY WELL,
DOESN'T MATTER.
00:17:56.784 --> 00:18:00.913
I DID THE JOB.
00:18:00.996 --> 00:18:02.831
ESPECIALLY IN URBAN AREAS,
00:18:02.915 --> 00:18:05.417
THE WAR EFFORT
PUSHED TOGETHER ETHNIC GROUPS
00:18:05.501 --> 00:18:07.461
WITH LITTLE PRIOR CONTACT,
00:18:07.544 --> 00:18:11.298
INCLUDING LATINOS AND ANGLOS.
00:18:12.508 --> 00:18:16.178
Escobedo: IN SOME CASES,
THIS PROVIDES FOR BRIDGING
00:18:16.261 --> 00:18:19.598
OF THOSE MORE TRADITIONAL
ETHNIC AND RACIAL GAPS.
00:18:19.681 --> 00:18:23.685
ON THE OTHER HAND,
IT PROVIDES A LOT OF CONFLICT.
00:18:23.769 --> 00:18:26.021
IN LOS ANGELES, THAT CONFLICT
WOULD FIND ITS FOCUS
00:18:26.105 --> 00:18:30.609
IN A NEW STYLE OF DRESS POPULAR
AMONG YOUNG LATINOS--
00:18:30.692 --> 00:18:32.736
THE ZOOT SUIT.
00:18:32.820 --> 00:18:35.405
Villalobos: I DON'T KNOW
WHERE THIS STYLE CAME FROM,
00:18:35.489 --> 00:18:37.199
BUT WE ALL JUST TOOK TO IT.
00:18:37.282 --> 00:18:39.034
WE'D GET OUR PAYCHECK
ON FRIDAY, AND THEN SATURDAY
00:18:39.117 --> 00:18:42.913
WE'D GET GUSSIED UP
AS BEST WE COULD, GO DANCING.
00:18:42.996 --> 00:18:45.374
THE GIRLS SEEMED
TO LIKE IT A LITTLE BETTER
00:18:45.457 --> 00:18:47.584
WHEN I DRESS THIS WAY.
00:18:47.668 --> 00:18:50.629
WE ALSO DEVELOPED OUR SLANG.
00:18:50.712 --> 00:18:52.464
"HEY, CARNAL--"
YOU KNOW, BROTHER.
00:18:52.548 --> 00:18:55.634
"HEY, CARNAL, COMO TE VAS?"
HOW'S IT GOING?
00:18:55.717 --> 00:18:57.261
[SPEAKS SPANISH]
00:18:57.344 --> 00:18:59.429
NICE COAT YOU HAVE,
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?
00:18:59.513 --> 00:19:02.349
AND THERE'S QUITE A FEW
THAT ARE--I DON'T WANT TO SAY--
00:19:02.432 --> 00:19:05.227
REPEAT IN FRONT
OF THE LADIES HERE, YOU KNOW?
00:19:07.396 --> 00:19:09.314
THE ZOOT SUIT
HAD AN ASSOCIATION
00:19:09.398 --> 00:19:12.484
WITH BARRIO GANG MEMBERS KNOWN
AS PACHUCOS,
00:19:12.568 --> 00:19:16.280
ADDING AN AIR OF CRIMINALITY
TO THE "DRAPES,"
00:19:16.363 --> 00:19:19.825
THOUGH, LIKE THE BLACK LEATHER
JACKET OF THE '50s,
00:19:19.908 --> 00:19:22.661
SOME KIDS WORE IT
JUST TO BE HIP.
00:19:29.793 --> 00:19:32.129
WHILE THE ZOOT SUIT
BECAME ITS SYMBOL,
00:19:32.212 --> 00:19:33.797
THE IMMEDIATE CAUSE
OF TENSIONS
00:19:33.881 --> 00:19:36.800
BETWEEN ANGLOS AND LATINOS
IN LOS ANGELES
00:19:36.884 --> 00:19:40.345
WAS A HUGE NEW NAVY ARMORY
FOR INDUCTION AND TRAINING
00:19:40.429 --> 00:19:41.972
BUILT JUST BEFORE THE WAR
00:19:42.055 --> 00:19:44.933
IN A TRADITIONALLY MEXICAN PART
OF THE CITY.
00:19:45.017 --> 00:19:49.104
THE TRIP FROM THE ARMORY
TO THE BARS AND RED LIGHT
DISTRICT DOWNTOWN
00:19:49.187 --> 00:19:51.857
RAN RIGHT THROUGH
A MEXICAN NEIGHBORHOOD,
00:19:51.940 --> 00:19:57.195
LEADING TO CHARGES OF HARASSMENT
FROM BOTH SIDES.
00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:58.947
WHITE SERVICEMEN COMPLAINED
00:19:59.031 --> 00:20:00.407
OF VERBAL ABUSE
AND PHYSICAL ATTACKS
00:20:00.490 --> 00:20:02.993
BY ZOOT SUITERS.
00:20:03.076 --> 00:20:06.997
BUT LOCAL MEXICAN-AMERICAN YOUTH
ALSO FELT BESIEGED.
00:20:07.080 --> 00:20:11.710
THE SAILORS USED TO COME IN
IN BUNCHES, DRUNK,
00:20:11.793 --> 00:20:16.298
COME FROM DOWNTOWN AND PASS
THROUGH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD
TO GET TO THEIR BASE,
00:20:16.381 --> 00:20:18.550
AND THEY WOULD
SOMETIMES THINK
00:20:18.634 --> 00:20:20.385
THAT OUR GIRLFRIENDS
WERE PROSTITUTES
00:20:20.469 --> 00:20:23.263
AND PROPOSITION THE GIRLS.
00:20:23.347 --> 00:20:26.975
BY LATE SPRING 1943,
00:20:27.059 --> 00:20:30.646
CONFRONTATIONS HAD BECOME
A DAILY OCCURRENCE.
00:20:32.606 --> 00:20:35.901
THEN, ON THE EVENING
OF JUNE 4th,
00:20:35.984 --> 00:20:37.986
THOSE SEETHING TENSIONS
EXPLODED
00:20:38.070 --> 00:20:41.782
IN WHAT CAME TO BE KNOWN
AS THE ZOOT SUIT RIOTS.
00:20:41.865 --> 00:20:45.953
ABOUT 200 WHITE SAILORS
AND MARINES ARMED
00:20:46.036 --> 00:20:47.037
WITH STICKS AND BATS
00:20:47.120 --> 00:20:49.414
TOOK TO THE STREETS,
SEEKING REVENGE
00:20:49.498 --> 00:20:51.917
FOR RECENT SCUFFLES.
00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:54.753
ANYONE WEARING A ZOOT SUIT
BECAME THE TARGET,
00:20:54.836 --> 00:20:57.547
EVEN THOSE AS YOUNG AS 12.
00:20:57.631 --> 00:21:00.050
MEXICAN-AMERICANS
WERE BEATEN
00:21:00.133 --> 00:21:03.053
ALONG WITH THOSE THAT TRIED
TO STOP THE ATTACKERS
00:21:03.136 --> 00:21:06.598
AND STRIPPED
OF THEIR CLOTHES.
00:21:06.682 --> 00:21:09.601
THE SERVICEMEN HALTED STREETCARS
AND ENTERED BARS
00:21:09.685 --> 00:21:11.103
IN SEARCH OF ZOOT SUITERS.
00:21:11.186 --> 00:21:16.608
7-YEAR-OLD SAL CASTRO WAS
IN A DOWNTOWN MOVIE THEATER.
00:21:16.692 --> 00:21:18.276
THEY TURNED ON THE LIGHTS,
00:21:18.360 --> 00:21:21.238
AND A BUNCH OF SAILORS WENT
INTO THE THEATER
00:21:21.321 --> 00:21:23.782
LOOKING FOR MEXICAN KIDS,
THEN THEY YANKED THEM OUT
00:21:23.865 --> 00:21:26.868
AND THEY STARTED
TAKING OFF THEIR PANTS
OR CUTTING THEIR TROUSERS,
00:21:26.952 --> 00:21:28.870
AND THE WORST PART IS
I SAID, "WELL, THEY'RE
GOING TO STOP THIS.
00:21:28.954 --> 00:21:30.831
THE COPS ARE COMING,
AND THEY'RE GOING TO STOP IT."
00:21:30.914 --> 00:21:34.418
HELL NO.
THE COPS STOOD THERE LAUGHING.
00:21:34.501 --> 00:21:37.004
FOR 3 NIGHTS,
00:21:37.087 --> 00:21:38.964
SERVICEMEN FREELY ROAMED
THE STREETS
00:21:39.047 --> 00:21:41.925
OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN
NEIGHBORHOODS, DOWNTOWN,
00:21:42.009 --> 00:21:46.471
AND OTHER PARTS OF L.A.
IN TRUCKS AND HIRED TAXIS,
00:21:46.555 --> 00:21:50.142
BEATING LATINOS ALONG WITH
SOME AFRICAN-AMERICANS
00:21:50.225 --> 00:21:53.103
AND AMERICAN FILIPINOS.
00:21:53.186 --> 00:21:55.063
SO ANY TIME
YOU WENT SOMEPLACE,
00:21:55.147 --> 00:21:57.899
YOU EITHER--
IF SAW A TRUCK COMING
WITH A BUNCH OF SAILORS,
00:21:57.983 --> 00:22:00.694
YOU'D JUST DUCK, HIDE.
00:22:05.240 --> 00:22:08.201
Villalobos:
IT WAS HORRIBLE, BELIEVE ME.
00:22:08.285 --> 00:22:10.829
VERY UN-AMERICAN.
00:22:13.415 --> 00:22:16.793
IRONICALLY
MANY OF THOSE VICTIMIZED
IN THE ZOOT SUIT RIOTS
00:22:16.877 --> 00:22:18.754
HAD BROTHERS AND FRIENDS
IN THE MILITARY
00:22:18.837 --> 00:22:21.965
OR WOULD END UP SERVING
THEMSELVES.
00:22:25.719 --> 00:22:27.679
A TARGET
OF RIOTING SERVICEMEN,
00:22:27.763 --> 00:22:30.640
RUDY LOPEZ WOULD JOIN
THE MERCHANT MARINES,
00:22:30.724 --> 00:22:34.352
THEN 2 YEARS LATER,
THE ARMY.
00:22:34.436 --> 00:22:38.106
THEY USED TO ASK ME, MY FRIENDS,
"WERE YOU A PACHUCO?"
00:22:38.190 --> 00:22:39.691
I SAID, "WELL, I USED TO
WEAR THE PANTS,"
00:22:39.775 --> 00:22:43.153
I SAID,
"BUT I WASN'T A PACHUCO."
00:22:52.037 --> 00:22:54.873
ON JUNE 13th, 1944,
00:22:54.956 --> 00:23:00.170
THE U.S. NAVY BEGAN BOMBARDING
THE ISLAND OF SAIPAN
00:23:00.253 --> 00:23:04.174
IN THE JAPANESE-HELD
MARIANA ISLANDS IN THE PACIFIC.
00:23:05.717 --> 00:23:08.053
THEY WERE SOFTENING UP
JAPANESE DEFENSES
00:23:08.136 --> 00:23:09.846
FOR AN INVASION.
00:23:15.143 --> 00:23:17.145
AFTER 2 DAYS OF SHELLING,
00:23:17.229 --> 00:23:20.857
8,000 MARINES
HIT THE WESTERN BEACHES.
00:23:22.734 --> 00:23:25.654
AMONG THEM WAS PRIVATE
FIRST CLASS GUY GABALDON,
00:23:25.737 --> 00:23:26.905
A MEXICAN-AMERICAN
FROM CALIFORNIA
00:23:26.988 --> 00:23:31.034
ABOUT TO ENTER
HIS FIRST BATTLE OF THE WAR.
00:23:33.120 --> 00:23:36.540
IT WAS 8:45 IN THE MORNING
THAT WE HIT THE BEACH.
00:23:36.623 --> 00:23:42.838
IT WAS HOT AND HEAVY
AND FURIOUS,
00:23:42.921 --> 00:23:46.341
BULLETS HITTING THE SAND
ALL AROUND YOU.
00:23:46.424 --> 00:23:50.512
[MEN SHOUT]
00:23:52.472 --> 00:23:57.894
I SAW A BODY--AND MARINE--
MARINES HAD JUST BEEN HIT--
00:23:57.978 --> 00:24:00.355
AND I-I FROZE.
00:24:00.438 --> 00:24:02.858
BUT, YOU KNOW,
I WASN'T SCARED.
00:24:02.941 --> 00:24:05.026
I FROZE,
AND IT WASN'T FEAR.
00:24:05.110 --> 00:24:08.029
IT WAS--I SAID,
"WHAT AM I DOING HERE?
00:24:08.113 --> 00:24:11.074
I SHOULD BE BACK IN L.A.
AT THE BOWLING ALLEY."
00:24:17.706 --> 00:24:21.459
BORN IN 1926, GUY GABALDON
GREW UP IN EAST LOS ANGELES,
00:24:21.543 --> 00:24:22.919
THEN A DIVERSE NEIGHBORHOOD
00:24:23.003 --> 00:24:28.758
OF MEXICAN, JAPANESE,
JEWISH AND ARMENIAN FAMILIES.
00:24:28.842 --> 00:24:33.513
HE WAS A STREET-SMART KID
WHO TENDED TO GET INTO TROUBLE.
00:24:33.597 --> 00:24:35.640
YOU'RE SCRAPPY, PUGNACIOUS,
AND EVEN BEFORE YOUR TEENS,
00:24:35.724 --> 00:24:37.142
WHEN YOUR GANG GETS
INTO A FIGHT,
00:24:37.225 --> 00:24:40.478
YOU ALWAYS PICK THE BIGGEST
FELLA TO TACKLE YOURSELF.
00:24:40.562 --> 00:24:42.856
ONCE, AFTER YOU HAVE YOUR NOSE
BROKEN IN A FIGHT,
00:24:42.939 --> 00:24:45.650
YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL
TO HAVE IT FIXED,
00:24:45.734 --> 00:24:48.612
AND WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT
YOU CAME OUT OF THE HOSPITAL?
00:24:48.695 --> 00:24:50.197
IT WAS BROKEN AGAIN.
00:24:50.280 --> 00:24:53.283
YOU GOT INTO ANOTHER FIGHT
AND GOT IT BROKEN
ALL OVER AGAIN.
00:24:53.366 --> 00:24:56.328
GABALDON'S BRAVADO
MASKED A DEEP CURIOSITY
00:24:56.411 --> 00:24:59.414
ABOUT THE WORLD.
00:24:59.497 --> 00:25:02.542
IN SCHOOL HE GREW CLOSE TO
SOME OF HIS JAPANESE CLASSMATES
00:25:02.626 --> 00:25:05.086
AND THEIR FAMILIES.
00:25:06.755 --> 00:25:08.465
BUT THAT CAME TO AN END
00:25:08.548 --> 00:25:10.508
IN THE MONTHS
FOLLOWING PEARL HARBOR,
00:25:10.592 --> 00:25:14.554
WHEN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
INTERNED OVER 100,000 JAPANESE,
00:25:14.638 --> 00:25:19.351
MORE THAN HALF OF THEM
U.S. CITIZENS.
00:25:19.434 --> 00:25:21.144
WITH HIS FRIENDS INTERNED,
00:25:21.228 --> 00:25:25.482
GUY CELEBRATED HIS 17th BIRTHDAY
BY JOINING THE MARINES.
00:25:25.565 --> 00:25:28.151
THOUGH TOO SHORT
AND HAVING A PERFORATED EARDRUM,
00:25:28.235 --> 00:25:32.530
HE TALKED HIS WAY IN, CLAIMING
TO BE FLUENT IN JAPANESE.
00:25:32.614 --> 00:25:35.909
IN TRUTH,
HE HAD ONLY PICKED UP A LITTLE.
00:25:35.992 --> 00:25:39.371
BUT IT LED TO A JOB AS A SCOUT
FOR AN INTELLIGENCE UNIT
00:25:39.454 --> 00:25:42.874
DURING THE ATTACK ON SAIPAN.
00:25:42.958 --> 00:25:44.834
THE DAY AFTER THE INVASION,
00:25:44.918 --> 00:25:47.671
WHILE OTHERS SET UP
AN OBSERVATION POST,
00:25:47.754 --> 00:25:51.007
HE SLIPPED OUT BEYOND
THE FRONT LINES TO THE NORTH.
00:25:51.091 --> 00:25:53.009
I TOOK OFF ON MY OWN
00:25:53.093 --> 00:25:54.719
AND WENT
INTO JAPANESE TERRITORY,
00:25:54.803 --> 00:25:56.680
AND I CAME BACK
WITH A COUPLE OF PRISONERS,
00:25:56.763 --> 00:25:59.599
AND MY COMMANDING OFFICER,
CAPTAIN JOHN SCHWABE--
00:25:59.683 --> 00:26:02.018
HE'S ONE HELL OF A NICE GUY--
00:26:02.102 --> 00:26:04.354
HE SAYS, "DON'T YOU EVER
DO THAT AGAIN.
00:26:04.437 --> 00:26:08.233
YOU'RE NOT A PRIMA DONNA.
YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WORK
ON YOUR OWN."
00:26:08.316 --> 00:26:10.568
I SAYS, "YES, SIR.
VERY GOOD, SIR,"
00:26:10.652 --> 00:26:12.612
AND THAT NIGHT, I FILLED
MY POCKETS WITH AMMUNITION
00:26:12.696 --> 00:26:16.241
AND I WENT BACK
TO THE JAPANESE TERRITORY.
00:26:19.494 --> 00:26:24.624
ON HIS OWN, GABALDON CAPTURED
A DOZEN MORE JAPANESE SOLDIERS.
00:26:24.708 --> 00:26:26.668
SO I RETURNED
TO THE AMERICAN LINES
00:26:26.751 --> 00:26:30.088
WITH A WHOLE MESS
OF JAPANESE PRISONERS,
00:26:30.171 --> 00:26:32.841
AND HE SAYS,
"WELL, WHAT THE HELL.
00:26:32.924 --> 00:26:35.719
"LET THE LITTLE KID GO.
LET THE LITTLE JERK GO.
00:26:35.802 --> 00:26:39.097
HE'S GETTING THE RESULTS."
SO I WENT ON MY OWN.
00:26:39.973 --> 00:26:41.599
I CHOSE WHERE
AND WHEN AND HOW
00:26:41.683 --> 00:26:44.853
I WAS GOING TO FIGHT
THE JAPANESE.
00:26:52.444 --> 00:26:55.739
THE AMERICAN INVASION
GRADUALLY PUSHED NORTH,
00:26:55.822 --> 00:26:59.743
WITH THE JAPANESE TAKING
ADVANTAGE OF VOLCANIC CAVES
00:26:59.826 --> 00:27:04.706
TO HIDE DURING THE DAY
AND ATTACK AT NIGHT.
00:27:07.208 --> 00:27:11.046
APPROACHING THOSE CAVES
BECAME A GABALDON SPECIALTY.
00:27:12.589 --> 00:27:15.300
I'D SNEAK UP
AND GET TO THE SIDE
OF THE MOUTH OF THE CAVE
00:27:15.383 --> 00:27:19.095
AND TOSS A FRAG GRENADE IN
AND KILL A BUNCH OF THEM.
00:27:19.179 --> 00:27:22.265
AND SOMETIMES
ONE GUY WOULD COME OUT.
00:27:22.349 --> 00:27:24.642
I'D HAVE MY CARBINE
RIGHT ON HIM AND I'D SAY,
00:27:24.726 --> 00:27:27.270
"I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU.
TELL YOUR BUDDIES
TO COME ON OUT.
00:27:27.354 --> 00:27:29.898
"I ASSURE YOU, WE'RE-WE'RE
NOT GOING TO HARM YOU.
00:27:29.981 --> 00:27:32.150
"IF YOU DON'T," I SAID,
"I GOT A BUNCH OF MARINES
00:27:32.233 --> 00:27:35.487
BEHIND
ALL THOSE TREES THERE."
I HAD NO ONE. I WAS ALONE.
00:27:35.570 --> 00:27:38.615
I SAID,
"YOU'RE ALL GOING TO DIE."
AND, YOU KNOW, IT WOULD WORK.
00:27:38.698 --> 00:27:43.620
I CONNED THEM
INTO SURRENDERING.
00:27:43.703 --> 00:27:47.415
GABALDON RACKED UP MORE AND MORE
CAPTURED SOLDIERS.
00:27:47.499 --> 00:27:50.919
THE REMAINING JAPANESE
WERE GROWING DESPERATE,
00:27:51.002 --> 00:27:54.756
CUT OFF ON THE ISLAND
FROM ALL MILITARY SUPPORT.
00:27:54.839 --> 00:27:59.177
IN EARLY JULY, THEY TRIED
A FINAL BANZAI ATTACK,
00:27:59.260 --> 00:28:00.804
THE LARGEST OF THE WAR,
00:28:00.887 --> 00:28:03.306
AND IT FAILED.
00:28:03.390 --> 00:28:06.518
THE SURVIVING JAPANESE,
PUSHED ALL THE WAY NORTH,
00:28:06.601 --> 00:28:10.355
OCCUPIED CAVES
IN THE CLIFFS ALONG THE SHORE.
00:28:10.438 --> 00:28:14.275
RIGHT THERE AT THE CLIFFS,
I TOOK A COUPLE OF PRISONERS
00:28:14.359 --> 00:28:15.527
AND SENT ONE DOWN
TO GET SOME MORE,
00:28:15.610 --> 00:28:19.531
AND A FEW WOULD COME UP--
10, 15, 20--
00:28:19.614 --> 00:28:24.285
AND I SAID, "OH, MY GOD.
WHEN IS THIS GOING TO END?"
00:28:24.369 --> 00:28:29.499
BEFORE I KNEW IT, IN 4 HOURS,
I HAD 800 PRISONERS.
00:28:29.582 --> 00:28:31.501
2 MARINES SAW ME.
00:28:31.584 --> 00:28:33.461
COULDN'T BELIEVE
WHAT THEY WERE SEEING,
00:28:33.545 --> 00:28:35.547
THAT HERE WAS THIS ONE MARINE
00:28:35.630 --> 00:28:37.715
WALKING BACK AND FORTH
AMONG ALL THE JAPANESE,
00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:40.343
AND THEY SAID
THEY COULDN'T FIGURE OUT
WHAT THE HELL WAS HAPPENING.
00:28:40.427 --> 00:28:41.803
SO THEN
THEY FINALLY CAME DOWN.
00:28:41.886 --> 00:28:45.014
I SAID, "GET YOUR ASS ON BACK
AND GET SOME HELP,"
00:28:45.098 --> 00:28:48.435
I SAID, "IMMEDIATELY,
BEFORE THEY TURN ON ME."
00:28:48.518 --> 00:28:51.396
GUY GABALDON WOULD BE CREDITED
00:28:51.479 --> 00:28:54.482
WITH BRINGING IN
OVER 800 PRISONERS THAT DAY,
00:28:54.566 --> 00:28:56.443
AN UNMATCHED FEAT
FOR A SINGLE SOLDIER
00:28:56.526 --> 00:29:00.572
IN U.S. MILITARY HISTORY.
00:29:00.655 --> 00:29:05.743
I'M 77 YEARS OLD,
AND I LOOK BACK AND I SAY,
"DID THIS REALLY HAPPEN?"
00:29:05.827 --> 00:29:11.082
HIS WARTIME CAREER
CAME TO AN END JUST WEEKS LATER
00:29:11.166 --> 00:29:14.711
WITH A MACHINE-GUN WOUND
TO HIS ARM AND HAND.
00:29:14.794 --> 00:29:18.590
ALL TOLD ON SAIPAN,
HE'D KILLED 33 ENEMY SOLDIERS
00:29:18.673 --> 00:29:22.218
AND CAPTURED OVER 1500.
00:29:22.302 --> 00:29:26.306
Announcer:
HERE IS THE WAY IT WAS!
00:29:26.389 --> 00:29:28.933
Narrator: 16 YEARS LATER,
THOSE REMARKABLE EXPLOITS
00:29:29.017 --> 00:29:30.268
WERE TURNED INTO A MOVIE--
00:29:30.351 --> 00:29:34.230
"HELL TO ETERNITY."
00:29:34.314 --> 00:29:37.066
Announcer: THE AMAZING
TRUE STORY OF GUY GABALDON,
00:29:37.150 --> 00:29:42.363
THE MARINE WHO CAPTURED MORE
THAN 1,000 ENEMY PRISONERS
SINGLEHANDED.
00:29:42.447 --> 00:29:44.532
AT 5'4",
GABALDON WAS PLAYED
00:29:44.616 --> 00:29:49.078
BY A 6-FOOT ANGLO,
JEFFREY HUNTER.
00:29:49.162 --> 00:29:53.249
THAT HE WAS LATINO NEVER MADE IT
ONTO THE SCREEN...
00:29:55.001 --> 00:29:58.630
...SADLY, A METAPHOR
FOR THE WAY MANY AMERICANS
00:29:58.713 --> 00:30:03.218
WOULD SOON FORGET THE ROLE
OF LATINOS IN WORLD WAR II.
00:30:04.761 --> 00:30:06.888
THERE WAS NAVY SAILOR
HECTOR ACEDO,
00:30:06.971 --> 00:30:08.264
WHO SURVIVED
THE TORPEDOING OF HIS SHIP
00:30:08.348 --> 00:30:10.725
OFF THE COAST OF SOUTH AFRICA.
00:30:10.808 --> 00:30:14.812
AND THERE WAS JOSE ZARAGOZA
OF THE COAST GUARD.
00:30:14.896 --> 00:30:18.441
HE SPENT 15 MONTHS
ON A LONELY ATOLL IN THE PACIFIC
00:30:18.525 --> 00:30:23.154
SENDING OUT NAVIGATION SIGNALS
TO SHIPS.
00:30:23.238 --> 00:30:24.781
THERE WAS PEDRO DEL VALLE,
00:30:24.864 --> 00:30:26.741
THE FIRST PUERTO RICAN TO REACH
THE RANK OF MAJOR GENERAL
00:30:26.824 --> 00:30:29.202
WHEN HE TOOK COMMAND
OF THE 1st MARINE DIVISION
00:30:29.285 --> 00:30:33.665
IN OCTOBER 1944.
00:30:33.748 --> 00:30:35.500
AND CARMEN CONTRERAS-BOZAK
00:30:35.583 --> 00:30:37.877
OF THE WOMEN'S ARMY
AUXILIARY CORPS, THE WAACS.
00:30:37.961 --> 00:30:41.130
SHE'D SHIP OUT FOR ALGIERS
TO WORK A TELETYPE,
00:30:41.214 --> 00:30:45.802
TRANSMITTING ENCODED MESSAGES
TO THE BATTLEFIELD.
00:30:45.885 --> 00:30:47.595
AND THEN THERE WAS
PRIVATE JOE P. MARTINEZ,
00:30:47.679 --> 00:30:49.514
KILLED
LEADING A SUCCESSFUL CHARGE
00:30:49.597 --> 00:30:52.642
AGAINST A KEY
JAPANESE DEFENSIVE POSITION
00:30:52.725 --> 00:30:55.645
WHEN THE ALLIES
RETOOK THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS.
00:30:55.728 --> 00:30:58.064
POSTHUMOUSLY,
MARTINEZ WOULD BE AWARDED
00:30:58.147 --> 00:31:01.067
THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL
OF HONOR.
00:31:01.150 --> 00:31:02.151
BY THE WAR'S END,
00:31:02.235 --> 00:31:05.113
10 OTHER LATINOS
WOULD EARN ONE AS WELL,
00:31:05.196 --> 00:31:08.533
IN PROPORTION, MORE THAN
ANY OTHER ETHNIC GROUP,
00:31:08.616 --> 00:31:11.202
EXEMPLARY SERVICE
THAT MANY HOPED WOULD END
00:31:11.286 --> 00:31:14.330
THE DISCRIMINATION LATINOS FACED
BACK HOME.
00:31:16.040 --> 00:31:20.128
M.C. Garcia: MEXICAN-AMERICANS
HAD A SECOND CLASS STATUS
IN AMERICAN SOCIETY,
00:31:20.211 --> 00:31:24.841
BUT ALSO,
MEXICAN-AMERICANS BELIEVE
IN THE UNITED STATES SO MUCH
00:31:24.924 --> 00:31:27.260
THAT THEY VOLUNTEER
IN RECORD NUMBERS
00:31:27.343 --> 00:31:30.722
AND SERVE IN RECORD NUMBERS,
00:31:30.805 --> 00:31:33.266
AND THERE IS AN EXPECTATION
ON THEIR RETURN
00:31:33.349 --> 00:31:35.226
THAT BECAUSE OF THEIR SERVICE,
00:31:35.310 --> 00:31:38.730
BECAUSE THEY HAVE RISKED
THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY,
00:31:38.813 --> 00:31:40.898
THAT THE COUNTRY
WILL WELCOME THEM,
00:31:40.982 --> 00:31:42.817
THAT THEY WILL ACKNOWLEDGE
00:31:42.900 --> 00:31:46.154
THAT, YES, YOU ARE
FULL-FLEDGED MEMBERS
OF AMERICAN SOCIETY,
00:31:46.237 --> 00:31:49.324
AND IT DOESN'T EXACTLY
WORK OUT THAT WAY.
00:31:51.242 --> 00:31:55.079
WHEN THE LONG WAR FINALLY CAME
TO AN END IN 1945,
00:31:55.163 --> 00:31:58.791
ONE RETURNING VETERAN SAID,
"MEXICAN-AMERICAN SOLDIERS
00:31:58.875 --> 00:32:03.338
"SHED AT LEAST A QUARTER
OF THE BLOOD SPILLED AT BATAAN.
00:32:03.421 --> 00:32:07.258
"WHAT THEY WANT NOW
IS A DECENT JOB, A DECENT HOME,
00:32:07.342 --> 00:32:09.802
AND A CHANCE TO LIVE PEACEFULLY
IN THE COMMUNITY."
00:32:14.766 --> 00:32:19.854
ON AUGUST 23rd, 1945
IN WASHINGTON, D.C.,
00:32:19.937 --> 00:32:22.732
MACARIO GARCIA BECAME
THE FIRST MEXICAN NATIONAL
00:32:22.815 --> 00:32:25.318
TO RECEIVE
A CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR
00:32:25.401 --> 00:32:28.237
FOR HIS ACTIONS
IN THE HURTGEN FOREST.
00:32:28.321 --> 00:32:35.578
TRUMAN IS BEAMING
AS HE PUTS THE MEDAL
AROUND MACARIO'S NECK.
00:32:35.662 --> 00:32:37.789
HE SAID, ".I WOULD
RATHERHAVE ONE OF THESE
00:32:37.872 --> 00:32:41.334
THAN BE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED
STATES."/
00:32:41.417 --> 00:32:43.711
MACARIO RETURNED
TO THE HOUSTON AREA
00:32:43.795 --> 00:32:45.254
TO A HERO'S WELCOME.
00:32:45.338 --> 00:32:48.091
Olivas: HE WAS A ROCK STAR.
00:32:48.174 --> 00:32:50.885
HE WAS IN THE PAPERS,
HE WAS ON THE RADIO,
00:32:50.968 --> 00:32:54.889
AND-AND HE WAS A--
HE WAS A GENUINE HERO.
00:32:57.725 --> 00:33:01.562
Bailey:
BUT HE RETURNED TO TEXAS.
00:33:01.646 --> 00:33:02.897
TEXAS HADN'T CHANGED.
00:33:02.980 --> 00:33:08.695
IT WAS STILL DEEP IN ITS MIRE
OF CASTE SYSTEM.
00:33:12.657 --> 00:33:14.701
JUST 2 1/2 WEEKS
AFTER PRESIDENT TRUMAN
00:33:14.784 --> 00:33:17.995
HAD PLACED THE MEDAL OF HONOR
AROUND HIS NECK,
00:33:18.079 --> 00:33:21.457
MACARIO GARCIA ENTERED
A RESTAURANT IN RICHMOND, TEXAS,
00:33:21.541 --> 00:33:27.171
NEAR HIS HOME IN SUGAR LAND,
THE OASIS CAFE.
00:33:27.255 --> 00:33:29.465
WELL, THE OASIS CAFE
WAS AT THAT TIME
00:33:29.549 --> 00:33:34.053
THE ONLY NIGHTSPOT IN RICHMOND.
00:33:34.137 --> 00:33:37.056
THERE WERE SOME OTHER PLACES
ACROSS THE TRACKS
00:33:37.140 --> 00:33:40.643
THAT CATERED
TO SOME OF THE MINORITIES,
00:33:40.727 --> 00:33:46.190
BUT IT WAS--THIS WAS
THE ONLY WHITE ESTABLISHMENT
IN RICHMOND.
00:33:46.274 --> 00:33:49.152
IT WAS QUITE WELL KNOWN
AS A PLACE NOT HOSPITABLE
TO MEXICANS.
00:33:49.235 --> 00:33:51.154
THERE WAS NEVER ANY EVIDENCE
THAT THEY PUT
00:33:51.237 --> 00:33:53.906
THE "NO MEXICANOS NI PERROS"
SIGN IN THE WINDOW,
00:33:53.990 --> 00:33:55.658
BUT MEXICANS DIDN'T GO THERE.
00:33:55.742 --> 00:33:58.578
WE HAD VERY FEW BLACKS
OR MEXICAN-AMERICANS
00:33:58.661 --> 00:34:00.621
COME IN AND ASK FOR SERVICE
00:34:00.705 --> 00:34:03.541
BECAUSE WE DIDN'T CATER
TO THEIR NEEDS.
00:34:03.624 --> 00:34:06.377
WE DIDN'T HAVE
THEIR KIND OF MUSIC.
00:34:06.461 --> 00:34:08.880
WE DIDN'T HAVE
THEIR KIND OF FOOD.
00:34:08.963 --> 00:34:12.884
SO WE JUST DIDN'T SEE ANY
OF THEM.
00:34:12.967 --> 00:34:15.052
BUT MACARIO HAS DECIDED
THAT IT'S TIME
00:34:15.136 --> 00:34:17.346
FOR HIM
TO HAVE SOMETHING TO EAT,
00:34:17.430 --> 00:34:18.681
AND HE WANTS TO GO THERE
TO HAVE IT.
00:34:18.765 --> 00:34:22.977
THOUGH THE CIRCUMSTANCES
WOULD BE DISPUTED,
00:34:23.060 --> 00:34:27.690
ONE FACT EVERYONE AGREED UPON--
GARCIA WAS REFUSED SERVICE.
00:34:31.903 --> 00:34:35.573
THE OWNER'S SON, TIRED OUT
FROM FOOTBALL PRACTICE
THAT AFTERNOON,
00:34:35.656 --> 00:34:39.410
WAS ASLEEP IN THE APARTMENT
OVER THE CAFE.
00:34:39.494 --> 00:34:42.580
ABOUT 11:00,
I HEARD GLASS BREAKING
DOWNSTAIRS THAT WOKE ME UP,
00:34:42.663 --> 00:34:46.417
AND I PUT ON MY CLOTHES
AS QUICK AS I COULD
00:34:46.501 --> 00:34:47.752
AND RAN DOWNSTAIRS
TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON.
00:34:47.835 --> 00:34:51.672
AND THE FIRST THING I SAW
WAS A SERVICEMAN,
00:34:51.756 --> 00:34:55.218
MEXICAN-AMERICAN SERVICEMAN
IN UNIFORM,
00:34:55.301 --> 00:34:58.763
AND HE WAS THROWING THINGS
AT THE MIRRORED WALL.
00:34:58.846 --> 00:34:59.847
MACARIO PICKS UP
SALT SHAKERS...
00:34:59.931 --> 00:35:03.100
SUGAR BOWLS...
AND KETCHUP BOTTLES...
00:35:03.184 --> 00:35:04.560
ANYTHING THAT CAME TO HAND.
00:35:04.644 --> 00:35:08.189
WINDOWS BEGIN TO BREAK
AND ALL KINDS OF GLASS.
00:35:08.272 --> 00:35:11.484
A FIGHT BROKE OUT.
00:35:11.567 --> 00:35:16.531
GARCIA WAS ARRESTED
AND EVENTUALLY CHARGED.
00:35:16.614 --> 00:35:19.116
IN HIS DEFENSE,
HE ACCUSED THE OASIS OWNERS
00:35:19.200 --> 00:35:21.702
OF REFUSING TO SERVE HIM
BECAUSE OF HIS RACE.
00:35:21.786 --> 00:35:27.458
HERE'S A MAN WHO'S FOUGHT
AND SHED HIS BLOOD,
00:35:27.542 --> 00:35:30.586
A MAN WHO RECEIVED
THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL
OF HONOR,
00:35:30.670 --> 00:35:35.508
AND YET HE CAN'T GET
SOMETHING TO EAT.
00:35:35.591 --> 00:35:40.346
LOUIS PAYTON'S MOTHER
GAVE A DIFFERENT ACCOUNT.
00:35:40.429 --> 00:35:42.890
SHE TOLD ME LATER
THAT HE HAD COME IN
00:35:42.974 --> 00:35:46.519
AND WAS OBVIOUSLY DRUNK
AND BELLIGERENT,
00:35:46.602 --> 00:35:48.563
AND SHE WOULDN'T SERVE HIM.
00:35:48.646 --> 00:35:52.483
THE INCIDENT WAS PICKED UP
BY THE NATIONAL NEWS,
00:35:52.567 --> 00:35:55.695
WITH MANY BELIEVING
MACARIO'S ACCOUNT.
00:35:55.778 --> 00:35:59.240
AND THERE WERE OTHER
SIMILAR CONFRONTATIONS.
00:35:59.323 --> 00:36:04.161
YET THE FACT REMAINED
THAT DENYING MEXICAN-AMERICANS
SERVICE IN A RESTAURANT
00:36:04.245 --> 00:36:09.333
WASN'T ILLEGAL
AND HAPPENED SO OFTEN
IT WASN'T EVEN NEWSWORTHY.
00:36:09.417 --> 00:36:11.752
BUT AFTER WORLD WAR II,
00:36:11.836 --> 00:36:16.299
THEIR STATUS AS VETERANS STARTED
TO CHANGE THAT PERCEPTION.
00:36:16.382 --> 00:36:18.467
IN THE END,
WHAT MATTERED MOST
00:36:18.551 --> 00:36:20.595
WAS THE QUESTION
THE INCIDENT RAISED.
00:36:20.678 --> 00:36:24.390
HOW COULD A COUNTRY
THAT FELT AN ENORMOUS DEBT
TOWARDS ITS VETERANS
00:36:24.473 --> 00:36:28.978
TREAT SOME
AS SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS?
00:36:39.655 --> 00:36:44.994
BY 1946, DR. HECTOR GARCIA
HAD RETURNED TO CIVILIAN LIFE.
00:36:45.077 --> 00:36:48.122
AT AGE 32,
WORLDLY AND WELL EDUCATED,
00:36:48.205 --> 00:36:51.959
GARCIA HAD MANY PATHS
AVAILABLE TO HIM,
00:36:52.043 --> 00:36:56.631
BUT HE CHOSE
TO RETURN TO SOUTH TEXAS.
00:36:56.714 --> 00:36:59.216
AT HIS SIDE
WAS A YOUNG WOMAN HE'D MET
00:36:59.300 --> 00:37:04.221
WHILE STATIONED IN ITALY,
WANDA FUSILLO.
00:37:04.305 --> 00:37:07.391
I. Garcia: SHE CAME
FROM AN ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY.
00:37:07.475 --> 00:37:10.061
SHE'S BEAUTIFUL,
SHE'S ARTICULATE,
00:37:10.144 --> 00:37:13.981
SHE'S VERY WELL EDUCATED,
AND TYPICAL OF HECTOR,
00:37:14.065 --> 00:37:17.318
HE DECIDES THAT THAT'S
THE WOMAN HE WANTS TO MARRY.
00:37:17.401 --> 00:37:18.861
SHE ACTUALLY THOUGHT
HE WAS A SPANIARD
00:37:18.945 --> 00:37:21.906
AND WOULD NOT KNOW THAT HE WAS
MEXICAN-AMERICAN, SHE SAID,
00:37:21.989 --> 00:37:24.617
UNTIL SHE CAME WITH HIM
BACK TO CORPUS.
00:37:27.954 --> 00:37:30.539
HECTOR AND WANDA SETTLED
IN CORPUS CHRISTI,
00:37:30.623 --> 00:37:33.042
A COASTAL CITY IN SOUTH TEXAS.
00:37:33.125 --> 00:37:34.835
GARCIA STARTED UP HIS PRACTICE
00:37:34.919 --> 00:37:37.338
AND SOON HAD A STEADY STREAM
OF PATIENTS,
00:37:37.421 --> 00:37:41.217
INCLUDING SEVERAL
MEXICAN-AMERICAN VETERANS
AND THEIR FAMILIES.
00:37:41.300 --> 00:37:45.262
MANY LIVED IN THE BARRIO,
ONE OF THE POOREST IN THE STATE.
00:37:45.346 --> 00:37:47.765
ONCE PAPA GOT ON HIS FEET
00:37:47.848 --> 00:37:50.601
AND HE STARTED TREATING
THESE PATIENTS IN THE BARRIO,
00:37:50.685 --> 00:37:53.604
HE GOT TO SEE ALL
OF THIS POVERTY FIRSTHAND.
00:37:57.358 --> 00:37:59.110
THERE WERE, LIKE, FAMILIES
OF 5 OR 6 PEOPLE
00:37:59.193 --> 00:38:02.113
LIVING IN ONE-ROOM SHACKS.
00:38:02.196 --> 00:38:05.199
THE BOARDS WERE SEPARATED.
00:38:05.282 --> 00:38:10.371
THERE WERE NO FOUNDATIONS.
THERE WERE DIRT FLOORS.
00:38:10.454 --> 00:38:15.459
THEY HAD NO SANITARY FACILITIES,
NO RUNNING WATER.
00:38:15.543 --> 00:38:19.255
THEY DIED
OF MOSTLY TUBERCULOSIS.
00:38:19.338 --> 00:38:24.760
THE INFANTS DIED OF DYSENTERY.
00:38:24.844 --> 00:38:27.304
IT WAS JUST
A BLEAK WAY OF LIFE.
00:38:27.388 --> 00:38:31.100
AS A BOY GROWING UP
IN MERCEDES,
00:38:31.183 --> 00:38:35.062
GARCIA HAD KNOWN RURAL POVERTY,
00:38:35.146 --> 00:38:39.900
AND HE HAD SEEN IT AND DISEASE
IN WORN-TORN AFRICA AND EUROPE,
00:38:39.984 --> 00:38:42.611
BUT THE URBAN POVERTY
OF CORPUS CHRISTI
00:38:42.695 --> 00:38:45.072
DISTURBED HIM EVEN MORE.
00:38:45.156 --> 00:38:48.367
THIS LITTLE BOY BEGGED MY FATHER
TO GO WITH HIM TO HIS HOUSE.
00:38:48.451 --> 00:38:51.287
AND WHEN MY FATHER GOT THERE,
00:38:51.370 --> 00:38:53.956
THE MOTHER HAD BURST HER LUNG
FROM TUBERCULOSIS,
00:38:54.040 --> 00:38:59.336
AND THERE WAS BLOOD ALL OVER
THE 4 OR 5 CHILDREN
IN BED WITH HER.
00:38:59.420 --> 00:39:02.298
SO OF COURSE
THEY GOT TUBERCULOSIS.
00:39:02.381 --> 00:39:04.300
AND MY FATHER
ASKED THE HUSBAND,
00:39:04.383 --> 00:39:06.469
"WHY DIDN'T YOU COME
AND GET ME?"
00:39:06.552 --> 00:39:08.721
AND THE HUSBAND SAYS,
"WE JUST COULDN'T AFFORD IT."
00:39:14.560 --> 00:39:18.105
Announcer:
THE G.I. BILL OF RIGHTS.
00:39:18.189 --> 00:39:19.607
Narrator:
HECTOR ENCOUNTERED
00:39:19.690 --> 00:39:22.109
MORE AND MORE STRUGGLING
MEXICAN-AMERICAN VETERANS
00:39:22.193 --> 00:39:24.278
AT A TIME WHEN UNPRECEDENTED
BENEFITS FOR VETERANS
00:39:24.361 --> 00:39:27.364
WERE RESHAPING THE COUNTRY.
00:39:27.448 --> 00:39:29.784
Man: JUST WHO GETS
THE BENEFITS OF THIS BILL?
00:39:29.867 --> 00:39:31.619
Announcer:
ANY VETERAN, MALE OR FEMALE,
00:39:31.702 --> 00:39:34.497
WITH MORE THAN 3 MONTHS'
ACTIVE SERVICE
00:39:34.580 --> 00:39:37.708
WHO HASN'T BEEN
DISHONORABLY DISCHARGED.
00:39:37.792 --> 00:39:41.837
Narrator: THE SERVICEMEN'S
READJUSTMENT ACT OF 1944,
00:39:41.921 --> 00:39:43.547
THE G.I. BILL,
00:39:43.631 --> 00:39:45.466
INCLUDED LOW-COST MORTGAGES
THAT MOVED MILLIONS
00:39:45.549 --> 00:39:49.637
FROM URBAN APARTMENTS
TO SUBURBAN HOMES
00:39:49.720 --> 00:39:53.182
AND EDUCATIONAL LOANS WHICH PUT
OVER 2 MILLION VETERANS
00:39:53.265 --> 00:39:56.310
INTO COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
00:39:56.393 --> 00:39:59.355
AND ANOTHER 6 MILLION
INTO TRAINING PROGRAMS.
00:39:59.438 --> 00:40:02.566
BUT THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN
VETERANS
00:40:02.650 --> 00:40:04.902
GARCIA WAS SEEING
IN HIS PRACTICE
00:40:04.985 --> 00:40:07.071
HAD TROUBLE GETTING THESE
AND OTHER BENEFITS
00:40:07.154 --> 00:40:08.989
THEY'D EARNED
THROUGH THEIR SERVICE.
00:40:09.073 --> 00:40:10.407
AFTER A CERTAIN AMOUNT
OF THESE STORIES,
00:40:10.491 --> 00:40:13.202
HE STARTS
TO PUT 2 AND 2 TOGETHER,
00:40:13.285 --> 00:40:15.246
AND HE REALIZES
THIS IS NOT INCIDENTAL
00:40:15.329 --> 00:40:17.206
TO EACH AND EVERY ONE
OF THESE INDIVIDUALS.
00:40:17.289 --> 00:40:18.999
THIS IS SYSTEMATIC.
THIS IS A PROBLEM
00:40:19.083 --> 00:40:20.918
THAT IS A LARGELY
INSTITUTIONALIZED PROBLEM
00:40:21.001 --> 00:40:26.423
THAT SEEMS TO TARGET
MEXICAN-AMERICAN VETERANS,
AND THIS INFURIATED HIM.
00:40:26.507 --> 00:40:30.177
WHEN HECTOR GOT CHARGED
ABOUT SOMETHING, IT WAS,
YOU KNOW, GAME ON.
00:40:30.261 --> 00:40:32.888
GARCIA BEGAN HOLDING MEETINGS
00:40:32.972 --> 00:40:36.934
FOR VETERANS
TO VOICE THEIR CONCERNS.
00:40:37.017 --> 00:40:40.396
BY MARCH OF 1948,
THEY HAD BECOME THE FOUNDATION
00:40:40.479 --> 00:40:43.732
OF A NEW MEXICAN-AMERICAN
ORGANIZATION,
00:40:43.816 --> 00:40:46.193
THE AMERICAN G.I. FORUM.
00:40:46.277 --> 00:40:48.571
I. Garcia: THE IDEA WAS THIS IS
A VETERANS' ORGANIZATION,
00:40:48.654 --> 00:40:52.575
BUT IN HECTOR'S MIND,
HE SAW ALL MEXICAN-AMERICANS
00:40:52.658 --> 00:40:57.121
AS EITHER BEING VETERANS
OR VETERANS BY PROXY,
00:40:57.204 --> 00:41:01.083
BECAUSE THE WIFE THAT WAS
SUPPORTIVE OF A MAN,
00:41:01.167 --> 00:41:03.377
THE PARENTS
WHO HAD RAISED A YOUNG MAN
00:41:03.460 --> 00:41:04.879
WILLING TO DIE
FOR HIS COUNTRY
00:41:04.962 --> 00:41:10.092
WERE AS MUCH A PART OF THIS
VETERANS AND MILITARY CULTURE.
00:41:10.176 --> 00:41:13.012
AND SO EVERYBODY IN
THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
00:41:13.095 --> 00:41:15.598
BECOMES A VETERAN.
00:41:17.516 --> 00:41:22.062
THIS INCIPIENT GROWTH
OF VETERANS' ACTIVISM
BEGINS TO-TO FLOURISH,
00:41:22.146 --> 00:41:26.901
AND IN THE EARLY PART OF 1948,
IT SIMPLY BLOWS UP.
00:41:28.903 --> 00:41:30.821
THE CATALYST
WAS THE CONTROVERSY
00:41:30.905 --> 00:41:34.617
SURROUNDING THE BURIAL OF
PRIVATE FELIX Z. LONGORIA, JR.,
00:41:34.700 --> 00:41:37.244
KILLED IN ACTION
IN THE PHILIPPINES.
00:41:37.328 --> 00:41:41.624
IN 1948, AFTER HIS REMAINS
FINALLY MADE IT BACK
TO THE STATES,
00:41:41.707 --> 00:41:45.336
HIS WIDOW BEATRICE TRIED
TO MAKE FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS
00:41:45.419 --> 00:41:50.257
IN HIS HOMETOWN
OF THREE RIVERS, TEXAS.
00:41:50.341 --> 00:41:54.637
THE FUNERAL DIRECTOR REFUSED
BECAUSE LONGORIA WAS A MEXICAN,
00:41:54.720 --> 00:41:58.974
LATER TELLING A REPORTER,
"THE WHITES WOULDN'T LIKE IT."
00:41:59.058 --> 00:42:01.852
WORD OF THE REFUSAL
REACHED HECTOR GARCIA,
00:42:01.936 --> 00:42:03.812
AND HE SPRANG INTO ACTION,
00:42:03.896 --> 00:42:06.982
CALLING NEWSPAPERS
AND SENDING TELEGRAMS
TO ELECTED OFFICIALS
00:42:07.066 --> 00:42:09.109
FROM THE STATE
AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT,
00:42:09.193 --> 00:42:12.613
EVEN PRESIDENT TRUMAN.
00:42:12.696 --> 00:42:14.740
Ramos:
THE STORY IS PUBLISHED.
00:42:14.823 --> 00:42:18.118
THIS BECOMES
A HUGE, HUGE CONTROVERSY.
00:42:18.202 --> 00:42:21.330
GARCIA CALLED TOGETHER MEMBERS
OF THE G.I. FORUM
00:42:21.413 --> 00:42:23.290
TO PLAN A PROTEST.
00:42:23.374 --> 00:42:26.126
OVER 1,000 PEOPLE FILLED
AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AUDITORIUM
00:42:26.210 --> 00:42:27.628
IN CORPUS CHRISTI.
00:42:27.711 --> 00:42:29.630
IN THE COURSE
OF THE MEETING,
00:42:29.713 --> 00:42:32.174
HECTOR RECEIVES A TELEGRAM
FROM LYNDON JOHNSON,
00:42:32.258 --> 00:42:35.094
WHO IS A NEWLY ELECTED SENATOR
FROM TEXAS,
00:42:35.177 --> 00:42:38.347
AND JOHNSON, ACTUALLY,
AS A VETERAN HIMSELF,
00:42:38.430 --> 00:42:42.351
WAS OUTRAGED
AT THE CIRCUMSTANCES
00:42:42.434 --> 00:42:46.313
AND VERY, VERY SYMPATHETIC
TO HECTOR'S CONCERNS.
00:42:51.235 --> 00:42:55.781
Announcer: A TEXAS WAR HERO
REFUSED BURIAL IN HIS HOME TOWN
00:42:55.864 --> 00:42:57.741
BECAUSE OF HIS MEXICAN ORIGIN
00:42:57.825 --> 00:43:00.703
IS LAID TO REST
AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
00:43:00.786 --> 00:43:04.331
WITH AMERICA'S
MOST HONORED DEAD.
00:43:04.415 --> 00:43:07.543
Narrator: THE LONGORIA AFFAIR
CHANGED HECTOR GARCIA'S LIFE.
00:43:07.626 --> 00:43:12.256
IT LED TO A CLOSE BUT AT TIMES
CONTENTIOUS FRIENDSHIP
00:43:12.339 --> 00:43:13.257
WITH LYNDON JOHNSON,
00:43:13.340 --> 00:43:16.218
GIVING THE DOCTOR
UNUSUAL ACCESS
00:43:16.302 --> 00:43:19.680
TO A WASHINGTON POWERBROKER
AND FUTURE PRESIDENT.
00:43:19.763 --> 00:43:21.098
IT ALSO PERMANENTLY CHANGED
THE FOCUS
00:43:21.181 --> 00:43:23.517
OF THE AMERICAN G.I. FORUM
00:43:23.600 --> 00:43:27.271
FROM VETERANS' RIGHTS
TO CIVIL RIGHTS,
00:43:27.354 --> 00:43:32.401
WITH HECTOR GARCIA
LEADING THE WAY.
00:43:32.484 --> 00:43:35.863
I. Garcia: WHEN HE'S PULLED
INTO THE WHOLE ARENA
00:43:35.946 --> 00:43:38.240
OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN REFORM,
00:43:38.324 --> 00:43:40.451
HECTOR FINDS HIS CALL.
00:43:40.534 --> 00:43:45.622
HE REALIZES THAT HE'S BEEN
PREPARED FROM QUITE YOUNG.
00:43:45.706 --> 00:43:48.292
HE BEGINS TO REMEMBER THAT
WHEN THEY USED TO TRAVEL,
00:43:48.375 --> 00:43:51.295
THEY WOULD STAY IN THE CAR.
THEY COULDN'T FIND HOTELS.
00:43:51.378 --> 00:43:54.465
FATHER WOULD NOT TALK ABOUT IT
AND SAY, "THIS IS RACISM,"
00:43:54.548 --> 00:43:57.384
BUT THEY ALL KNEW
THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG.
00:43:57.468 --> 00:44:00.137
THE LONGORIA AFFAIR
BRINGS TO HECTOR
00:44:00.220 --> 00:44:03.432
ALL OF THESE EXPERIENCES.
00:44:07.061 --> 00:44:09.563
HECTOR GARCIA WOULD QUICKLY
BECOME THE MOST PROMINENT
00:44:09.646 --> 00:44:14.276
MEXICAN-AMERICAN
CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER OF HIS ERA.
00:44:14.360 --> 00:44:16.779
UNDER HIS DIRECTION,
THE AMERICAN G.I. FORUM
00:44:16.862 --> 00:44:20.741
WOULD GROW
ACROSS TEXAS AND THE SOUTHWEST,
00:44:20.824 --> 00:44:25.496
CHALLENGING SEGREGATION
IN ITS MANY FORMS,
00:44:25.579 --> 00:44:29.166
FROM DISPARITIES
IN HEALTH SERVICES
00:44:29.249 --> 00:44:33.921
TO SEGREGATION IN SCHOOLS
00:44:34.004 --> 00:44:36.840
TO THE POLL TAXES
THAT KEPT MEXICAN-AMERICANS
00:44:36.924 --> 00:44:39.968
AND OTHER MINORITIES
FROM VOTING.
00:44:40.052 --> 00:44:44.223
UNTIL THOSE TAXES WERE OUTLAWED
IN THE MID-1960s,
00:44:44.306 --> 00:44:48.394
THE G.I. FORUM
HELD BEAUTY PAGEANTS,
00:44:48.477 --> 00:44:52.272
WHERE THE WINNER WAS THE GIRL
WHO RAISED THE MOST MONEY
00:44:52.356 --> 00:44:55.234
TO PAY THE TAXES
SO OTHERS COULD VOTE.
00:44:55.317 --> 00:44:57.820
I. Garcia: IN HECTOR'S MIND,
WHATEVER PROGRESS
00:44:57.903 --> 00:45:00.489
THAT THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN
COMMUNITY WOULD ENGAGE IN
00:45:00.572 --> 00:45:02.991
WOULD BE
BY BECOMING MORE AMERICAN,
00:45:03.075 --> 00:45:05.285
BY UNDERSTANDING THE SYSTEM,
BY VOTING,
00:45:05.369 --> 00:45:09.123
BY GOING INTO THE MILITARY,
BY GETTING A GOOD EDUCATION.
00:45:09.206 --> 00:45:12.000
HECTOR WANTED
TO MAKE THIS BRIDGE--
00:45:12.084 --> 00:45:14.837
BRING IN AMERICAN SOCIETY
INTO THE BARRIO
00:45:14.920 --> 00:45:17.631
AND BRING THE BARRIO
INTO AMERICAN SOCIETY.
00:45:17.714 --> 00:45:21.593
GARCIA WANTED MEXICAN-AMERICANS
TO FOLLOW THE SAME PATH
00:45:21.677 --> 00:45:23.470
AS OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS
WHO HAD OVERCOME PREJUDICE
00:45:23.554 --> 00:45:27.850
TO BECOME PART OF THE FABRIC
OF THE UNITED STATES,
00:45:27.933 --> 00:45:32.229
SUCH AS THE IRISH
AND THE ITALIANS,
00:45:32.312 --> 00:45:36.233
BUT HE ALSO PERCEIVED
A DIRECT THREAT TO HIS PLANS--
00:45:36.316 --> 00:45:38.986
A GROWING NUMBER OF MEXICANS
00:45:39.069 --> 00:45:43.490
ILLEGALLY CROSSING THE BORDER
IN SEARCH OF WORK.
00:45:43.574 --> 00:45:46.410
AT THE CONSTANT RISK
OF DEPORTATION,
00:45:46.493 --> 00:45:49.246
UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS
WERE EASILY EXPLOITED,
00:45:49.329 --> 00:45:51.165
FORCED TO WORK LONG HOURS
00:45:51.248 --> 00:45:54.418
AND TO LIVE
IN DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS.
00:45:54.501 --> 00:45:56.670
AS A DOCTOR, HECTOR GARCIA
00:45:56.753 --> 00:46:00.090
HAD SEEN THOSE CONDITIONS
FIRSTHAND IN SOUTH TEXAS
00:46:00.174 --> 00:46:04.970
AND BELIEVED THEM INHUMANE
AND UN-AMERICAN.
00:46:07.181 --> 00:46:10.267
HE ALSO THOUGHT THE SEEMINGLY
ENDLESS SUPPLY OF CHEAP LABOR
00:46:10.350 --> 00:46:13.395
HURT MEXICAN-AMERICANS
BY DRIVING DOWN WAGES,
00:46:13.479 --> 00:46:18.066
FORCING WHOLE FAMILIES
TO SEASONALLY MIGRATE NORTH
00:46:18.150 --> 00:46:20.569
IN SEARCH OF BETTER PAY.
00:46:22.821 --> 00:46:25.574
HIS SOLUTION WAS
TO TAKE A STRONG STANCE
00:46:25.657 --> 00:46:28.911
AGAINST THE HIRING
OF UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS,
00:46:28.994 --> 00:46:30.120
DRAWING A CLEAR DISTINCTION
00:46:30.204 --> 00:46:34.541
BETWEEN MEXICAN
AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN LABOR.
00:46:34.625 --> 00:46:37.753
HE SAW ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
AS A REAL THREAT
00:46:37.836 --> 00:46:42.382
TO THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN
COMMUNITY'S ABILITY
TO STAY AT HOME,
00:46:42.466 --> 00:46:44.593
GET EDUCATED,
GET STABLE JOBS,
00:46:44.676 --> 00:46:48.680
PARTICIPATE IN THE ELECTORAL
PROCESS AND BECOME AMERICAN.
00:46:48.764 --> 00:46:53.477
BUT IN PUSHING
FOR A RESTRICTION
OF THE BORDER,
00:46:53.560 --> 00:46:55.479
HECTOR
AND THE AMERICAN G.I. FORUM,
00:46:55.562 --> 00:46:58.732
THEY WERE AT TIMES
REPEATING THE STEREOTYPES
00:46:58.815 --> 00:47:00.984
THAT AMERICANS HAD
OF MEXICANS,
00:47:01.068 --> 00:47:03.904
AND, IN FACT, IN THE ONE
SPONSORED PAMPHLET,
00:47:03.987 --> 00:47:05.989
"WHAT PRICE WETBACKS?"
00:47:06.073 --> 00:47:09.326
WHICH WAS WRITTEN BY ONE
OF HIS MOST LOYAL FRIENDS,
00:47:09.409 --> 00:47:11.828
IT IS FULL OF STEREOTYPES
00:47:11.912 --> 00:47:16.542
AND COMMENTS THAT WOULD
MAKE ANYBODY CRINGE.
00:47:16.625 --> 00:47:20.754
IN 1954,
THE FORUM THREW ITS SUPPORT
00:47:20.837 --> 00:47:23.173
BEHIND A QUASI-MILITARY
SEARCH AND SEIZURE
00:47:23.257 --> 00:47:26.718
OF ILLEGAL WORKERS CONDUCTED
BY THE U.S. BORDER PATROL,
00:47:26.802 --> 00:47:30.514
OPERATION WETBACK.
00:47:30.597 --> 00:47:32.766
WITH ITS LATE-NIGHT RAIDS,
00:47:32.849 --> 00:47:36.144
ITS DEPORTATION OF PEOPLE PULLED
OFF THE STREETS,
00:47:36.228 --> 00:47:39.940
AND THE BREAK-UP OF FAMILIES
BASED ON CITIZENSHIP,
00:47:40.023 --> 00:47:42.192
OPERATION WETBACK
BROUGHT IMMEDIATE PROTESTS
00:47:42.276 --> 00:47:44.945
FROM THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN
COMMUNITY,
00:47:45.028 --> 00:47:48.365
ENOUGH TO CHANGE
HECTOR GARCIA'S MIND.
00:47:48.448 --> 00:47:52.244
I. Garcia:
AND IT IS AT THAT MOMENT
00:47:52.327 --> 00:47:55.455
WHERE YOU SEE HECTOR
SHIFT HIS VIEWS.
00:47:55.539 --> 00:47:57.499
THAT IS SUCH A PAINFUL ORDEAL
00:47:57.583 --> 00:48:01.628
FOR THE MEXICAN
AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
00:48:01.712 --> 00:48:06.216
THAT NOW YOU DON'T SEE
MEXICAN-AMERICAN
OR LATINO LEADERS
00:48:06.300 --> 00:48:09.344
PROMOTING ANY KIND
OF DEPORTATION CAMPAIGN.
00:48:11.680 --> 00:48:13.056
AS IT TURNED OUT,
00:48:13.140 --> 00:48:16.476
OPERATION WETBACK
HAD LITTLE LASTING EFFECT.
00:48:16.560 --> 00:48:21.398
DEPRESSED WAGES IN AGRICULTURAL
WORK IN TEXAS AND CALIFORNIA
00:48:21.481 --> 00:48:23.567
AND A GROWING U.S. ECONOMY
00:48:23.650 --> 00:48:27.988
LED MANY MEXICAN-AMERICANS
TO MOVE OUT OF THE SOUTHWEST,
00:48:28.071 --> 00:48:31.199
AND WHERE
MEXICAN-AMERICANS WENT,
00:48:31.283 --> 00:48:35.537
THE AMERICAN G.I. FORUM
SOON FOLLOWED.
00:48:35.621 --> 00:48:39.207
WITH PUERTO RICAN VETERANS IN
THE NORTHEAST ALSO JOINING UP,
00:48:39.291 --> 00:48:41.251
BY THE END OF THE 1950s,
00:48:41.335 --> 00:48:45.422
THERE WERE MORE THAN 30 CHAPTERS
ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
00:48:45.505 --> 00:48:49.051
FOR HECTOR GARCIA, THIS NETWORK
PROVIDED THE LEVERAGE HE NEEDED
00:48:49.134 --> 00:48:51.678
TO CHANGE THE LIVES
OF LATINOS EVERYWHERE
00:48:51.762 --> 00:48:55.724
THROUGH THE POWER
OF THE BALLOT BOX.
00:48:55.807 --> 00:49:01.438
Ramos: THIS IS THE ENDGAME
THAT HECTOR GARCIA
REALLY WAS AFTER.
00:49:01.521 --> 00:49:04.441
UNTIL LATINOS,
MEXICAN-AMERICANS
IN PARTICULAR,
00:49:04.524 --> 00:49:06.652
BECOME A NATIONAL
POLITICAL FORCE
00:49:06.735 --> 00:49:08.945
THAT CAN MAKE OR BREAK
A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION,
00:49:09.029 --> 00:49:12.908
WE WILL ALWAYS BE
A MARGINALIZED COMMUNITY.
00:49:12.991 --> 00:49:14.826
GARCIA'S TIMING WAS PERFECT.
00:49:14.910 --> 00:49:19.247
THE 1960 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL RACE
WAS GOING TO BE CLOSE,
00:49:19.331 --> 00:49:22.793
AND CANDIDATE JOHN KENNEDY HAD
CHOSEN AN OLD FRIEND OF HECTOR'S
00:49:22.876 --> 00:49:26.129
TO BE HIS RUNNING MATE,
LYNDON JOHNSON.
00:49:26.213 --> 00:49:29.883
LYNDON JOHNSON IS GOING
TO DELIVER THE STATE OF TEXAS
00:49:29.966 --> 00:49:31.927
AND OTHER STATES
THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHWEST
00:49:32.010 --> 00:49:33.804
BECAUSE OF HIS UNDERSTANDING
AND KNOWLEDGE
00:49:33.887 --> 00:49:35.555
OF THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN
LEADERSHIP IN COMMUNITIES,
00:49:35.639 --> 00:49:41.478
AND HECTOR GARCIA IS HIS MAN
TO GET THAT JOB DONE.
00:49:41.561 --> 00:49:44.606
RATHER THAN POLITICIZE
THE FORUM,
00:49:44.690 --> 00:49:47.984
GARCIA CREATED
A NEW ASSOCIATION,
00:49:48.068 --> 00:49:51.071
THE VIVA KENNEDY CLUBS.
00:49:51.154 --> 00:49:56.660
THEY HELD RALLIES, FUNDRAISERS
AND VOTER REGISTRATION DRIVES,
00:49:56.743 --> 00:49:58.995
ALL TO ROLL OUT
THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN VOTE
00:49:59.079 --> 00:50:01.498
ON ELECTION DAY.
00:50:01.581 --> 00:50:04.209
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
00:50:12.050 --> 00:50:15.929
AND AS IT TURNED OUT,
EVERY VOTE COUNTED.
00:50:16.012 --> 00:50:20.267
KENNEDY WON BY LESS THAN 1%
OF THE POPULAR VOTE,
00:50:20.350 --> 00:50:23.019
WITH MANY STATES CAPTURED
BY VERY SMALL MARGINS.
00:50:23.103 --> 00:50:25.772
IT WAS NOT LOST ON HECTOR
00:50:25.856 --> 00:50:30.068
THAT THE KENNEDY ADMINISTRATION
OWED SOMETHING VERY DIRECTLY
00:50:30.152 --> 00:50:32.988
TO THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN PEOPLE
FOR THAT VICTORY.
00:50:37.909 --> 00:50:39.286
HECTOR GARCIA
WOULD BE DISAPPOINTED.
00:50:39.369 --> 00:50:42.122
PRESIDENT KENNEDY
NEVER CAME THROUGH
00:50:42.205 --> 00:50:43.373
WITH THE INITIATIVES
AND APPOINTMENTS
00:50:43.457 --> 00:50:49.546
GARCIA FELT MEXICAN-AMERICANS
HAD EARNED.
00:50:49.629 --> 00:50:53.884
BUT KENNEDY'S SUCCESSOR,
LYNDON JOHNSON, DID.
00:50:53.967 --> 00:50:55.886
HE APPOINTED
MORE MEXICAN-AMERICANS
00:50:55.969 --> 00:51:01.725
TO POSITIONS IN GOVERNMENT
THAN ANY PRESIDENT BEFORE
00:51:01.808 --> 00:51:04.561
AND HE PASSED
LANDMARK LEGISLATION
00:51:04.644 --> 00:51:07.189
MAKING ILLEGAL
THE FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION
00:51:07.272 --> 00:51:10.067
HECTOR GARCIA HAD BATTLED
FOR YEARS,
00:51:10.150 --> 00:51:13.528
FROM SEGREGATION
IN RESTAURANTS AND SCHOOLS
00:51:13.612 --> 00:51:16.740
TO POLL TAXES.
00:51:16.823 --> 00:51:19.743
WHILE MANY SAW THE NEW LAWS ONLY
IN THE CONTEXT
00:51:19.826 --> 00:51:22.329
OF THE BLACK
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT,
00:51:22.412 --> 00:51:24.372
WHEN JOHNSON ADDRESSED CONGRESS,
00:51:24.456 --> 00:51:27.209
HE INVOKED HIS OWN EXPERIENCE
AS A TEACHER
00:51:27.292 --> 00:51:30.921
IN A SMALL MEXICAN-AMERICAN
SCHOOL IN TEXAS.
00:51:33.173 --> 00:51:35.217
Johnson:
MY STUDENTS WERE POOR
00:51:35.300 --> 00:51:39.554
AND THEY KNEW EVEN IN THEIR
YOUTH THE PAIN OF PREJUDICE.
00:51:39.638 --> 00:51:44.267
THEY NEVER SEEMED TO KNOW
WHY PEOPLE DISLIKED THEM,
00:51:44.351 --> 00:51:48.438
BUT THEY KNEW IT WAS SO,
BECAUSE I SAW IT IN THEIR EYES.
00:51:48.522 --> 00:51:54.027
I NEVER THOUGHT
THAT I MIGHT HAVE THE CHANCE
00:51:54.110 --> 00:51:57.405
TO HELP THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS
OF THOSE STUDENTS
00:51:57.489 --> 00:52:03.912
AND TO HELP PEOPLE LIKE THEM
ALL OVER THIS COUNTRY.
00:52:03.995 --> 00:52:08.208
BUT NOW I DO HAVE THAT CHANCE,
00:52:08.291 --> 00:52:11.878
AND I'LL LET YOU IN ON A SECRET.
I MEAN TO USE IT.
00:52:11.962 --> 00:52:14.214
[APPLAUSE]
00:52:18.468 --> 00:52:21.763
Narrator: 20 YEARS
AFTER THE END OF WORLD WAR II,
00:52:21.847 --> 00:52:24.891
THE CITIZENSHIP
LATINOS HAD FOUGHT AND DIED FOR
00:52:24.975 --> 00:52:26.351
HAD FINALLY ARRIVED,
00:52:26.434 --> 00:52:30.188
BUT THE STRUGGLE
FOR TRUE EQUALITY
00:52:30.272 --> 00:52:32.649
WAS JUST BEGINNING.
Distributor: Pragda Films
Length: 60 minutes
Date: 2013
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: Middle School, High School, College, Adults
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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