Jared Swapp

American Civilization
Latino Americans in WWII
Latino American involvement in the war definitely secured freedoms at home. The war
effort required as much man power as it could get. After the attack on Pearl Harbor and our
involvement into the war, Americans freedoms were at risk. Latino Americans fought just as
bravely and intelligently as any other race. Although racism has masked and ignored most of
their heroics. Example, Mario Garcia was awarded the Medal of Honor (the highest award given
by the U.S. government and congress) though only a few weeks later, denied service at a
restaurant in his home state.
I think the war actually helped speed up desegregation. Before the war, segregation of
Latino Americans was everywhere but especially in the states closest to Mexico. Once America
was in the war, Latinos and blacks were fighting alongside whites. Back at home, Latinas and
white women were working alongside to help support the war effort. I think this showed a lot of
people that there is no need for segregation and how ridiculous of a concept it really is. Because
this was happening so quickly, the people who held tight to their beliefs of superiority acted
more viciously than if things stayed the way they were. This will happen any time a movement
forward of suppressed people happens. Though this was a movement forward, I think the
surprise was how few of the changes stayed once it was over.
The fact that most Americans have never heard of Hector Garcia, Guy Goboldan or even
knew that such a large number of Latinos fought in WWII shows that racism still very much
survived after the war.

Example #1: Instead of a Hispanic actor to play Guy in Hell to Eternity, they used a tall
white man.
Example #2: Zoot suit riots and the fact that the police force did nothing to stop the attacks.