"We Promised To Get Each Other Through": Civil Rights & the Vietnam War

In this penultimate episode of the History & Memory podcast, Dr Alex Mendoza explores the Civil Rights era & the Chicano Movement in particular in the lead up the Tejano veterans' experience in the Vietnam War. I. Intro: The Changing Landscape of Civil RightsA. LULAC’s and Am GI Forum’s Assimilation messaging not resonating by 1960s1. Discrimination still prevalent and voting still limited until 19642. By late 1960s Chicano Movement takes holda) Differentb) Non-Assimilationc) Younger Generations (similar to broader Civil Rights movements of late 60s)B. Military Service still way out of poverty as main influenceC. New Factors1. Hollywood—John Wayne and War Movies of the 1950s and 1960s resonated2. Family History (fathers/uncles/brothers had served and military families the norm)3. Military brainwashing worked: 1950s Conservatives and EisenhowerII. VietnamA. Origins1. Fear of Communism2. Foreign Policy and Abstract IdeasB. Service1. New Soldiers demonstrated a love for military previous generations had not known2. Basic Training had new dynamics as Tejanos and other Hispanic soldiers in the middleof the tense strife between white and black troops in age of Civil RightsC. CombatLoyalty to Fellow Soldiers took place instead of loyalty to countrya) Story of Eduardo Teniente and his friend Ignacio “Nacho” TorresFrustrationsa) Guerrilla Warfareb) An enemy they could not understandc) Wawro: $168,000 per every enemy combatant the US killedHeroisma) Roy Benavidez from El Campo—The Tejano GI Joeb) Alfredo “Freddy” Gonzalez—Edinburg bravery MoH posthumouslyDiscriminationa) Muted “Speedy” Gonz moniker but Tejanos more apt to fight back than beforeb) Class discrimination (the war was inherently against the poor—deferments)c) Chicano leaders were more inclined to criticize the war than beforeIII. MemoryA. The Antiwar dissent that defined the war was still absent with the Tejano community1. Tejanos were anti Communist/pro capitalist/pro-AmericaB. Tejanos are Memorializing the war via Murals and Community Projects1. See Dr. Ricardo Romo’s Projects (Romo first Tejano sub 4 min miler)http://latinopia.com/blogs/ricardo-romos-tejano-report-10-08-21-honoring-latino-military-heroes/