Saturday, October 18, 2014

The Vietnam War and its Detrimental Effects on Chicanos


Big thanks to Susie for providing this source, it is extremely relevant to our production. 

The following are selected quotes, but I urge you to read the entire thing:


3:  As a Chicano I have experienced racial bigotry in my upbringing and I must attest that it is important to discuss 
why the Vietnam War was a failure for many Mexican-Americans who saw the war as an 
opportunity to move upwardly in the American socio-economic pyramid


~


4: The statistics on the number of Chicanos serving in the Vietnam War were a motivating 
factor in conducting this research as Chicanos comprised about six percent of the country’s 
population during the war and accounted for about twenty percent of the casualties in Vietnam.


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7: The Indigenous heritage 
of Mexican-Americans is also a mixture of tribes from all over the southwestern United States 
and Mexico. Chicanos have a rich cultural amount of capital in that they descend from Aztecs, 
Tarascans, Totonacs, Comanches, Apaches, Navajos, Pimas, and many more tribes.6
 According to a study performed by Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Medicina Génomica most Mexicans and 
Mexican-Americans are about 40 to 60 percent European and about 40 to 60 percent Native 
American.
 This binary of identity becomes even more complex when the dichotomy of being of 
Mexican descent and American-born is factored into the discussion of Chicano identity and 
culture.


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7: The notion of desiring accommodation into the English dominant American societal 
complex for Chicanos was well exemplified during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was for 
many Chicanos seen as an opportunity to fight for America the land of their birth, and an 
opportunity to be warriors for democracy and capitalism the ideals that the United States was 
promoting. For many young Chicanos with no real prospects of obtaining a quality college 
education or a job, the war and joining the military seemed to ostensibly be a route to earn 
money for a more promising future.


~


9: Mexican-Americans became targets of the military in terms of the draft. Unintentionally 
or not Chicanos had very limited arguments and chances of not being conscripted into the 
military or of fleeing the country to avoid the war. Due to the poorer state of public education in 
areas where Hispanics resided, most Chicanos did not enroll into colleges and universities and 
therefore had more limited chances of obtaining a draft deferment. Hispanic young men were 
heavily recruited or drafted after they graduated from high school and were drafted even if they 
dropped out. At predominantly Hispanic schools military recruiters and ROTC programs were 
the answer for escaping the barrio for many Chicanos, and the military was seen by many as a 
way to climb the socio-economic ladder in the United States.


~


10: The barbarous nature of the war left great psychological wounds in many Chicano 
veterans. It can be inferred that the violence against other human beings made it difficult for 
veterans to surpass seeing their own family in a non-hostile manner. Marcello, an Army veteran 
who chose not to give his last name and who served as a First Lieutenant as a Forward Observer, 
stated that the brutality he witnessed injured his ability to feel


~


11:  However because of the anti-war 
movement in the United States many soldiers would write letters home and receive no letters 
back. On several occasions many soldiers would strive to make it out of Vietnam alive to be 
reunited with their girlfriends only to find out that she was no longer interested in dating a 
Vietnam War veteran.


~


12: For some 
Mexican-Americans the history of warrior-hood has survived to the twentieth century and 
beyond. A Chicano lives with his mestizo history of having roots to Aztec, Tarascan, or Apache 
warriors as well as his connection to the Spanish conquistador. The idea of proving oneself 
through participation in combat is a notion that has been passed down through generations.


~


14: Patriotism was an important factor in the culture of many Chicanos that led many to 
enlist into the military during the war. Ralph Garcia a former Marine stated that he decided to 
enlist into the Marine Corps because he saw that they were the toughest, and that if he wanted to 
be as tough as they were he had to prove himself by joining. He also recalled that when he was 
twelve years old he saw a Chicano Marine walking through his barrio in the blue dress uniform 
returning from the Korean War. Garcia saw how patriotic and warrior-like he looked, and he felt 
that in order to be somebody of importance he had to join the Marines.


~

14: Patriotism was an important factor in the culture of many Chicanos that led many to

enlist into the military during the war. Ralph Garcia a former Marine stated that he decided to 
enlist into the Marine Corps because he saw that they were the toughest, and that if he wanted to 
be as tough as they were he had to prove himself by joining. He also recalled that when he was 
twelve years old he saw a Chicano Marine walking through his barrio in the blue dress uniform 
returning from the Korean War. Garcia saw how patriotic and warrior-like he looked, and he felt 
that in order to be somebody of importance he had to join the Marines.


~


15: They believed that if they went 
through with the draft and served in Vietnam that they could be as American as a White person, 
and treated as first-class citizens. For many Mexican-American soldiers who served in Vietnam 
the war was not only about the possibility of economic gain, but it was also about gaining social 
clout.


~


17: Mike Serrano came to embody the confusion that many Mexican-Americans experienced 
during the war. Serrano stated that his naïveté and romanticisms of the war as a great crusade 
against the evils of communism came to a halt. He did not care about saving the Vietnamese 
people anymore; he only cared about making it through his tour of duty alive.


~


17: Many Chicanos returned from the war with 
the same feelings, and they were not necessarily feelings of anti-patriotism. Rather the feelings 
that several Mexican-Americans felt upon their return to America were sentiments that 
government cannot be blindly trusted.


~


19: To some Chicanos communism stood against their beliefs, faith, and culture even though
many of its tenets may have favored working class Mexican-Americans. Many Chicanos saw the
fight against North Vietnam and the communists as a noble act, and wanted to see democracy
established in South Vietnam, but the type of government that was established was not what
many wanted. In the early years of America’s involvement in the war Vietnamese Catholics from
North Vietnam fled by the hundreds of thousands to South Vietnam in the effort to escape
religious persecution by Ho Chi Minh and the communists.


~


20: Ramirez describes feeling nothing like he
thought he would feel during war. Ramirez stated, “the test of manhood was not there, and it
was nothing like the army conquests of John Wayne my childhood hero.”34 Killing people
became a contradiction for many Chicano soldiers who struggled with this confusion. It was
difficult for many Mexican-American soldiers who came from a working-class background to
fight working-class people who it seemed were fighting against tyranny and oppression.


~


21: However he did feel a strong sense of regret
for participating in a war that cost the lives of more than 58,000 military servicemen and women.
Bustamante reminisced with regret at the destruction of Vietnamese lives, children, property, and
land by the military. He claimed that as a Catholic these things that occurred in Vietnam have
been difficult to cope with after the fighting.


~


22: For many Chicano veterans the war in
Vietnam was not truly fighting communism it was instead defending American corporate
interests and protecting an oppressive dictatorship; one that was initially headed by Ngo Dinh
Diem and then replaced by another headed by Nguyen Van Thieu.


~


22: Roediger states that the masses are fooled by the concept of race in order to create a division
between the working classes and this division is clearly exemplified in the Vietnam War. This
exemplification is demonstrated not just in the fact that American soldiers of the working classes
were fighting peasants many of whom wanted a socialist political system of some sort but also in the fact that there existed disparities in the platoons, squadrons, and regiments in the military
between the white soldiers and the minority soldiers.


~


26: Many Chicanos at home became deeply involved in the anti-war movement as they
saw the war becoming too large. Many of them, including war veterans, joined activist
movements that called for an end to the war and a moratorium on the amount of Chicanos that
were being sent to Vietnam. These organizations included the Mexican-American Political
Association, the Mexican-American Youth Organization, the Catolicos por la Raza, and many
more activist organizations that sought an end to Chicano participation in the war.50 By 1968 the
Johnson administration had about 600,000 troops stationed in Vietnam.


~


27: However the issue of racism and racial
tensions was also a factor in the diminishing support for the war among many Chicano soldiers,
and racism affected the identity of many Chicanos after the war. Discrimination was not a new
concept to Mexican-Americans during the war, but it was surprising as many Hispanics did not expect to feel discrimination in the military, instead many believed that the military would make
them be more American and give them the opportunities of upward mobility that they desired.


~


29: school segregation for Chicanos did not end
until a federal appellate court upheld in Mendez v. Westminster in 1947 that Hispanics could not
be discriminated against in public schools and that segregation of Hispanics was
unconstitutional.


~


29: Juan Ramirez discusses his encounters
with racism and talks about his squad leader named Jensen. Jensen was racist and hated minorities. At the time that Ramirez met him Jensen did not have much time left in his tour of
duty, and because of his short time Jensen would send minorities into the most dangerous
missions and areas.56 Towards Jensen’s last few weeks in Vietnam he would send Ramirez and
his squad to patrol areas while he would stay at the command post. Ramirez stated that he
“exploded with rage and told my commanding officer that Jensen was no longer fit for duty, and
that Jensen did not care about us or our safety.


~


33: When many Chicano soldiers returned from the war in Vietnam discrimination towards
them continued at various degrees. Juan Ramirez recalls being pulled over by a police officer
who mocked his military service and accused Ramirez of being a bathroom cleaner in the
military.


~


33: Heroin was used by an estimated 15
to 20 percent of soldiers in the Mekong Delta, and could cost as low as $1 dollar per dose.64 Not
all Chicano soldiers were drug users but there was a significant amount of soldiers from all backgrounds that became heavier drug users and alcohol consumers because of the Vietnam
War.


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34: When many Mexican-American soldiers returned home from Vietnam the addiction to
drugs and alcohol continued as many Chicanos felt discriminated against in housing,
employment, and in everyday social life.


~


35: The desire to escape the memories of the war became a
common goal for many Hispanic soldiers who felt anxiety about the destruction the war had
caused. Abran F. Montoya claimed that after the war his consumption of alcohol increased in
order to cope with the changes from being in a war zone to being in a more calm area. He would
constantly have flashbacks and nightmares and he admitted that his problem with alcohol
affected his marriage.


~


36: American society helped to create a negative atmosphere for several Chicano veterans
upon their return home. Antonio P. Bustamante described his return to America as hostile,
because protesters and hippies treated them with disdain. Bustamante declared, “upon landing at
the airport protesters demonstrated animosity towards me and other veterans by insulting us and
spitting at us.”70 He noted that even his family and friends were not as compassionate with him
as they should have been.


~


37: The brutality that many Chicano veterans experienced in Vietnam created severe changes
in many of them that influenced their characters, personalities, and emotions. The medical term
for this disorder that was brought back to America by veterans was titled Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD), and its symptoms included upsetting memories, nightmares, flashbacks,
feelings of hopelessness, and survivors’ guilt among many more. PTSD affected many veterans
and their families and was a disorder in which the government did not rapidly create programs to
provide medical treatment for. Many Chicano veterans had a lot of problems associated with
PTSD due to discrimination in VA hospitals and the strong feelings of denial regarding symptoms of the disorder.73 The US Department of Vetarans’Affairs reported that there are more
than 830,000 Vietnam War veterans living with service-related PTSD, and that the percent of
PTSD incidents is higher for Vietnam veterans than veterans of the Gulf War or veterans of the
Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


~


38: Montano instead of seeking help from a federal
program to battle his PTSD symptoms eventually joined a support group which was started up by
other Vietnam veterans. He stated that relationships with other people were difficult for him
because of his problems associated with PTSD.75 Relationships with family and close friends
were deeply affected by PTSD in several Chicano soldiers who had returned from Vietnam. Juan
Ramirez describes his problems with the disorder as shattering to his relationship with his wife.


~


38: Ramirez recalled one incident in which he had a flashback of the war and had ran to the edge of a cliff. His wife chased him down and he realized that he had problems due to the war and that he
needed to seek help.


~


39: The problem with PTSD for many Chicanos was that their culture of machismo was too
strong to recognize that they were mentally helpless. Older generations of Chicano veterans who
had fought in Korea and in both World Wars had suppressed symptoms of PTSD and covered
them with machismo and alcohol use. However the war in Vietnam was different for many
Chicanos because they did not receive the treatment that older veterans received. In other words
when many Chicanos returned home they returned to a society that looked down upon Vietnam
veterans while veterans from World War I and World War II still experienced racism but
returned to a society where their service was somewhat appreciated.


~


40: As a
result homelessness in the United States rose especially in the veteran category. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans concluded that 23 percent of all homeless people in America
are veterans, and that of these 47 percent are Vietnam veterans


~


43: The cultural tie that Hispanics share in being emotionally close to
family was distorted by their participation in the war, and this led several Chicanos to be more
withdrawn from family and friends. The cultural tradition that Mexicans and Mexican-
Americans had established as a means to survive amid poverty and struggles with oppressive
governments was rattled by the emotional problems that the Vietnam War caused.


~


44: Chicanos cannot be categorized into one homogenous group as each individual
experience varied; however, from this research it can be concluded that the Vietnam War
produced many problems and issues for many Mexican-American Vietnam War veterans.


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46: the identity of
many Chicanos in terms of political and social philosophies went from being one of blind
patriotism and more centrist-conservative ideals to one in which many Chicanos became more
aware of the true political arena in the United States in which in order to survive many Chicanos
had to move to a more centrist-liberal position.


~


47: For some Mexican-Americans the war presented itself as an opportunity for a better future,
and that is why many Chicanos were not drafted but voluntarily enlisted into the military. In
effect it is a result of these situations that many veterans who returned and who were able to
overcome PTSD, drug and alcohol abuse became more inclined to favor government programs
that created other alternatives for minority youth to better their futures rather than by joining the military and serving in war.


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