 "Photo: Carson Werner/The Daily Texan")
Even though some Mexican-American soldiers felt they were a part of a brotherhood while serving in World War II, they faced civil unrest when they came back to the U.S., according to a museum exhibit directed by UT faculty.
“They faced some of the same obstacles as before the war,” said Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, an associate professor in the School of Journalism and director of the project. “We know they had to fight to tear down some segregated institutions. They had to protest, write letters.”
The U.S. Latino and Latina World War II Oral History Project brings light to the oral and written accounts of Mexican-American veterans who fought in World War II. The exhibit will be on display at In Their Own Words Veterans Museum in Perham, Minn. until July 31.
Rivas-Rodriguez said the exhibit aims to educate citizens about the role that Mexican-Americans played in World War II.
“[The exhibit] is about the Latino World War II experience, so it deals with Latinos, and it spans their childhood and some of the educational benefits they got out of the war,” Rivas-Rodriguez said.
The oral history project encourages volunteers to conduct interviews with veterans within their community, and is devoted to preserving the stories of those who participated in WWII. Lina Belar, executive director of the museum, said that the loss of many servicemen greatly impacted their communities.
“[The war] didn’t just affect those that went into battle, but the community that was left behind,” Belar said. “It has made a difference in a lot of peoples’ lives to go into the service, to go away from their community, to have different states of cultural imperative.”
Belar said she hopes the project breaks down barriers between citizens and veterans and sparks discussion about veterans’ war experiences. She said that the problems many veterans faced are due in part to their inability to freely communicate in an open forum.
“Very often, they have been so changed by their experiences — sometimes for the better, sometime for the worse — that they have a hard time communicating with those they spoke to originally,” Belar said.
Rivas-Rodriguez said that firsthand accounts of the war written by veterans are valuable to the project — but the oral accounts are especially important.
David B. Gracy, professor in the School of Information, helped the project archive all of the interviews.
“Oral history is something that happens after the event,” Gracy said. “[Documentation] is unchanging, whereas memories can change over time.”
Belar said that she hopes the project will help veterans come to terms with their experiences.
“A way to help that is to educate communities of the lives of veterans, so they are more sensitive to it,” she said. “[Veterans don’t] have to keep it to themselves — they are going to be able to have a forum. That’s the kind of cultural change that you hope will happen.”
2 comments
Two of my uncles served in the Army and it was an honor to record and publish part of their stories. I hope to publish some more of their history in the near future, considering that no one beside me has shown any interest in preserving their military service and contributions.
I plan to be in Minnesota in a few weeks and hope to see the exhibit. I know it will serve as reminder of the sacrifices so many of our Chicano men and women made on our behalf, as well as their noble contributions despite the bigotry they encountered before and after WWII.Alfonso Valenzuela
Writer, Consultant
Cross Cultural Marketing Communications
Tucson, Arizona