The Role Of Latino Americans During World War II

World War II is considered one of the greatest tragedies of all time with over 50 million casualties (White). It's wrong to say that it was only the Nazis and their treatment of the Jewish people. There was mistreatment of minorities on both sides. For example the Zoot Suit Riots, in which Anglo-American servicemen attacked Latino-Americans under the belief that they were not American. But during the war, Latino-Americans sought to prove the opposite. Through their contributions, despite their struggles on and off the war front, they showed they were already a part of American culture. An example of Latino sacrifices of the war front is the contributions of the bracero program. It brought Latino people that from Mexico to harvest crops when
First, the Braceros were treated very poorly even though they were doing so much to help. When the program started in 1942, promises made in the bracero contracts were not upheld (Gordillo 153). Braceros lived in renovated chicken coops, were not supplied with enough food, their injuries were not properly cared for, and Braceros were limited in where they could travel due to lack of transportation into towns. (Mandeel 174). Then, Latino soldiers were intentionally set up for failure during the war. Such as Eugene Calderon, who wanted to fly in the military, but was moved from training facility to training facility before he could qualify at any single base (Suarez 90). Where ever he was stationed, he was too dark for the white group, but too light for the dark group (Suarez 90). He was separated from everyone and never given the same opportunities as any of the soldiers he was learning with. Also, Guy Gabaldon who, after all of his heroics in Saipan, was never awarded the medal of honor, and as he recalled, “Pretty much everyone in my company was promoted, except me” (Suarez 93). Finally, when the Latino War heroes went home they were treated the same as before. When Macario Garcia was denied service while in his uniform and wearing his medal of honor, he was furious and punched the owner in the mouth and was threatened by her brother with a baseball bat (Suarez 102). None of these people were treated as Americans when they had sacrificed so much to be considered one. In many ways, they were more American than any of the people that meant to do them wrong. Walter Winchell, a radio star of the time, said “Texans do not fight with baseball bats” (Suarez 103). And Americans fight against people who mean to take their freedom, not against the men who mean to preserve