"For Latinos, World War II was Birmingham, Selma
 and the deliverance from Egypt all rolled into one. "

SUMMARY: The Defend the Honor campaign's Gus Chavez and Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez packed 8 events into a short two-day visit to San Diego. They made presentations to high school students, conducted newspaper, television and radio interviews (including Morones Por La Tarde Spanish language radio interviews), visited the Centro Cultural de La Raza, a breakfast at the San Diego landmark Chuy's restaurant of the Latino/Latina Indigenous Peoples Unity Coalition, took part in an open community discussion sponsored by our local PBS station, KPBS at San Diego State University.

The final event held at the San Diego Veterans Museum and Memorial Center - a full house, and more than 40 copies of Dr. Rivas-Rodriguez book "A Legacy Greater Than Words" were sold. Attendees included Latino veterans who fought in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm from San Diego and southern California. We were honored to have a number of California American G.I. Forum members, including former National Commander Tony Gallegos, attend our program. It was a great event.

Rivas-Rodriguez and Chavez were invited to a discussion with the Editorial Board of The San Diego Union Tribune. It was a spirited discussion, during which Chavez shared a print-out of the last frame of ABC TV's Jimmy Kimmel's "cartoon" mocking our Latino WWII veterans. (ABC Jimmy Kimmel show a week and a half ago featured a short spoof of the Ken Burns The War documentary's inclusion of Latinos. It shows Speedy Gonzalez dodging bullets -- and at the end, a photo-shopped photo of the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima has the men wearing sombreros, and rather than a flag, they are hoisting a pinata. )

The issue was very much in the news, as newspaper writers saw the fitting Memorial Day angle: articles and columns appeared in the San Antonio Express-News, the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Austin American-Statesman, the North County Times, the St. Paul Post-Dispatch. See details below, and on the www.defendthehonor.org website.

BACKGROUND:

THE WAR, a 14-hour documentary on WWII, is scheduled to air in September on PBS. Director Ken Burns and associates took six years to interview more than 40 individuals in four communities (Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama; Sacramento, California; and Luverne, Minnesota). The documentary features individuals in those communities, with two ethnic/racial groups given special consideration: Japanese Americans and African Americans. The film has no reference to the Latino contribution. The documentary also has an accompanying book and educational materials. PBS officials say, in a news release: "Serving our mission to educate and inform, PBS’s goal for THE WAR is to reach into every home and classroom -- so together we can better understand what we as a nation experienced in those difficult years and what we as a nation accomplished." Concerned individuals ,have contacted PBS officials and Burns’ production company (Florentine Films) and told them that THE WAR is incomplete without the Latino experience.

This email is part of a regular update on the efforts to secure representation of Latinos & Latinas of the WWII generation in THE WAR. Go to the site for links to the latest news and articles on PBS's position. www.defendthehonor.org.  Be encouraged, some PBS stations are behind the Defend the Honor move for Latino inclusion.

Documentary tells the story of the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery Regiments, who achieved ethnic diversity, fought with great distinction in the Philippines, endured the Bataan Death March and became two of the most decorated military units in World War II. The film includes interviews with survivors, a return visit to the Philippines, and a meeting with one of the Japanese guards.  

Written by Anonymous 
Scott Henry
Tony Martinez

Marine Lance Cpl. José Antonio Gutierrez was one of the 300,000 soldiers the U.S. military sent to war in Iraq in March 2003. A few hours after the war began, his picture was broadcast all over the world: he was the first American soldier to be killed in Iraq. He was also a so- called 'green-card soldier' - one of approximately 32,000 non-U.S. citizens fighting in the ranks of the U.S. armed forces who would receive U.S. citizenship as compensation for their sacrifice.

The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez tells the moving story of a one-time street kid from Guatemala, who, full of hopes for a better future, immigrated to the U.S, ultimately to die an American hero in the deserts of Iraq. Director Heidi Specogna retraces José Antonio's path - from Guatemala through Mexico to the United States - and meets the people who accompanied him on his journey: his friends from the street, the social workers at a Guatemala orphanage, his sister, his foster family in Los Angeles, and, at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, the marines who were with him at the end.

Chilling, thought-provoking, and profound, José Antonio's story is no adventurer's tale. 
It is the story of a young man's attempt to survive - on both sides of the world.

THE MEDAL

I was there along with perhaps a dozen other Latinos at the Museum of Radio and Television on April 23rd, when the premiere of "The War" was screened and I was disappointed that more people weren't involved. We're vocal but we need to be more visible. I held up a poster of the Mexican-American recipients of the Medal of Honor and a friend, Ray Andrade helped me by handing out flyers for Valiant Press which features the stories of these heroes in book form. More information about Valiant Press can be found at my website, www.valiantpress.com

My Dad, Raul Morin was one of the first to realize that the valor of Mexican-American heroes was largely unacknowledged. This was the impetus of his writing his book, "Among the Valiant". In it he chronicles that deeds of valor of the heroes of WWII and Korea. My father knew the value of education and wanted to inspire the young.

It was in their case that NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall tried out the winning arguments he was to make in Brown vs. Board of Education before the U.S. Supreme Court, which outlawed segregation nationwide in its decision on the case in 1954.

Mendez, a 70-year-old retired nurse who lives in Fullerton, was feted at the Ninth Circuit's Seventh Street courthouse by the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association at a screening of an Emmy-winning documentary about her family's precedent-setting but little-known lawsuit, "Mendez vs. Westminster: For All the Children/Para Todos Los Niños."

She and the film's director, Sandra Robbie, plan to tour the country to raise awareness of the decision. The U.S. Postal Service plans to release a boldly colored stamp in September honoring the ruling's 60th anniversary.

The day in 1943 when 8-year-old Sylvia and her younger brothers were turned away from Westminster Elementary because of their dark skin and Spanish last name remains vivid to her.

She had been excited to start school in their new town after they moved from Santa Ana. Instead, dressed in her best with her hair neatly braided, she was sent away along with her brothers, even though their light-skinned cousins were allowed to enroll.

Her parents, Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez, who owned a cantina and had moved to Westminster to manage a farm, were appalled. They had thought all the students in the Santa Ana school were Mexican American because they lived in a Mexican American neighborhood. They had no idea state law allowed segregation against Mexican Americans, Sylvia Mendez said.

The couple found Los Angeles civil rights lawyer David Marcus and sued on behalf of the estimated 5,000 Mexican American families in Orange County.

"After the school district saw that my father had gotten a lawyer, they said we could go to the school," Mendez said. "But he said, 'Forget it. I'm going to do this for everybody.' He decided to keep fighting."

When a federal district court ruled in the family's favor, civil rights groups across the country took notice. Attorneys had begun a campaign in the 1930s to challenge official segregation in the United States, and the NAACP had taken on segregated universities. But the district court's 1946 decision in Mendez tackled "separate but equal" more directly and gave credence to the notion that segregated schools hampered the education of minority students.

After the Mendez ruling, the NAACP filed lawsuits against five segregated school districts in Kansas and across the south, and the U.S. Supreme Court eventually addressed those cases simultaneously in its 1954 decision in Brown vs. Board of Education.

When the school district appealed, the NAACP, the ACLU, the Japanese American Citizens League, the American Jewish Congress and other groups filed briefs to support the ruling that segregated schools were inherently unequal. And the Ninth Circuit, on April 14, 1947, agreed that segregating schools on the basis of national origin violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

"It desegregated schools for all ethnic minorities in California seven years before the Brown decision," said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Christopher Arriola, an authority on the Mendez case. "And it has the legacy leading up to Brown because Thurgood Marshall for the first time argued outright for the overturning of Plessy vs. Ferguson, which allowed for segregation."

Earl Warren, then governor of California, within two months pushed through a state law invalidating all segregated facilities in California -- swimming pools, movie theaters, public parks and schools. In 1954, as chief justice of the United States, he wrote the Brown decision.

Robbie, the filmmaker, who grew up in Westminster many years after Mendez did, said she didn't know segregation had been part of California's history until she heard of the Mendez case.

"I thought that only happened in the American South," she said. "I knew this was a story my children -- every child -- had to know. It brought home the idea that the civil rights struggle didn't just happen in the American South but across the country and that it was about everybody of every color."

She hopes to see the case taught in schools as part of the history of the civil rights movement.

The "Mexican" schools had dirt yards instead of grassy lawns and taught vocational skills instead of literature and science, Mendez said. But she said she fully understood discrimination for the first time when her family moved back to Santa Ana -- after the Ninth Circuit ruling -- and she enrolled as the first Latino student at a former "white" school and was beaten up and called a "dirty Mexican."

"I realized then what my father was fighting for," she said.

She is still inspired by her parents' fortitude.

"My father was really strong," she said. "He didn't want us to grow up thinking we're not equal."

When Mendez told her mother a few years later that she wanted to be a telephone operator, her mother insisted she sign up for microbiology and become a registered nurse instead.

This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Plyler vs. Doe, which overturned a Texas law denying illegal immigrant children access to public schools. The court ruled that children are entitled to an education regardless of immigration status, said Maria Blanco, director of the San Francisco Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights.

And that decision, in turn, was the federal district court's basis for overruling California's Proposition 187, which voters passed in 1994 and would have denied illegal immigrants access to public services.

What I am seeing is a big transition over to the same use of Spanglish not only in our every day lives but now a lot of our New young Artists are also using more in their music. If you listen to a lot of our Artists they are really bringing out some HOT music and not only doing it in Spanish & English but Spanglish as well. I have always felt that we can grow this Genre if we use this to our advantage. Our generation of Latinos are all pretty much in the same boat, we each partake in this use of our language and do it pretty well and a lot of the times it’s so customary for us we don’t even notice were doing it. It’s a normality to our lives and in bringing together this one key feature into our Music we add a special tone that can bring out some unique and Hot music that can not be overlooked when marketed properly.

I have heard a lot of music coming out of the Latin Hip Hop community and many are doing this and some have had huge success in doing so. Just to name one big name we would have to look at Pitbull, this young man has taken the Spanglish use to a new level in music by always kicking in some Spanish in all his songs or at the least a lot of his songs. If you look at his success you will see there is a market for it and that success can come out of it! Now lets take it back to 1990 and we can see that even back then we had an opportunity to move on this particular style of music and although Gerardo had a big hit with his album Mo’ Ritmo and although many do not see him a key artist in the game you can not deny that in 1990 you weren’t saying "Rico Suave". We didn’t see this movement coming but it has been there for many years and it is now truly evolutioning. The underground has T-Weaponz, a Hip Hop outfit of young Latinos in Brooklyn which has had huge underground success in doing the same thing. They had "Mira Mira" which went on to gain national accolades and accumulated over 26,000 National Radio Spins. It featured Pitbull & Notch and was in English, Spanish & Spanglish. If you listen to this song not only will you hear a fierce group of rappers but a song that was done exactly what so many before it have, been successful. Catchy hook that combined English and Spanish to a perfect blend.

Many don’t feel that this is something plausible, I disagree only because I have seen the success of it and see that there is a huge potential in taking this to another level and really making something happen. Now we can actually have songs played regularly on all Radio supporting Hip Hop and not just those that we decide to change over because of some little success that were allowed to have. If we actually make music that is enjoyable for everyone, guess what they will accept, listen and buy! 

So is there a market for this? YES! But is it feasible? That’s the main question, which is one that has due justice to be asked, because can we really expect something out of the ordinary to work? I honestly feel that we can, because if Dora the Explorer can be a cartoon show targeted to our kids in English and Spanish why can't our Music? TV knows there is a market out there, so when are Radio and Music Labels going to realize the same thing? 

I Love my culture, my music and Hip Hop. I think we have a perfect combination when we have them all intertwined and this is something that if implemented correctly can outdo so many other genres that have come and gone, and we can actually remain! By doing so you not only open up doors for those who don’t understand Spanish to enjoy but now you open doors to Radio stations that wouldn’t usually play it because it was a Spanish song. We can make headway if we actually examine a lot of what is already being done out in the market! Lets not wait until were told when our music should pop, lets choose when we have our time.

Spanish Word of the Day
Thursday, May 24, 2007

tiquet, noun
ticket, voucher; sales slip, receipt

Here’s one of the several words that Spanish has borrowed from English - from ticket in this case - and adapted. You may find it spelled as tique or tíquet, and the -que- is pronounced in the same way as in, for instance, aquel. Usually it means a ticket on a bus or train, though it can also be used for tickets to museums and so forth.

un conjunto de 50 edificios que pueden visitarse con un tiquet único de 1.200 pesos
a group of 50 buildings which can be visited with a single ticket costing 1,200 pesos

It’s also more loosely used to mean a voucher of some kind:

un tíquet para aprender inglés gratis durante un mes
a voucher to learn English free for a month

It’s useful to know this word if you want to change something you’ve bought, since the sales assistant may need your sales slip:

No se admiten devoluciones sin tiquet.
Goods may not be returned except with a sales slip.

Estimado Colega,
(odie@lmtonline.com)

I don’t know if you have even heard my name, much less remember me.

However, your "Inspirational" article about Judge Azios' view on "EDUCATORS" compelled me to write the following: The Azioz family lived right behind our house @ 1312 Salinas Ave. exactly 4 blocks from the "Hamilton Hotel".

Judge Azios was just a few years older than I. He was one of the G.I.'s who first were called to serve in the Military.

Jesus & Juan Meza were two other young guys called in from our "Tex-Mex (R.R) Barrio.. they fit into this story because Their father was Chief-Chef at the Hamilton Hotel;

My education Sub-One (English learners) to M.H.S. were the educational routs which ALL of us followed. 

The only Chicano MALE teacher, I had was Mr.. George Garza, who taught Mechanical Drawing @ M.H.S. ( era 1943-'50).  He became MY ROLE MODEL, when he organized us into the "Jr. LULAC Council #1 under the auspices of "Laredo LULAC Council #12.

Among our group were: Vidal Trevino (RIP) Laredo ISD Supt., ATT. Roberto Ornelas Fire Chief Flores, Col. Andres Cuellar &many others for whom "The Senior LULACS became OUR "Parentis Absensia".

One other "limitation" we ENJOYED was the LACK of "English CARRIERS" into our homes. The English we learned was not "RELEVANT to our NEIGHBORHOOD CULTURE".

Our "Reading Series was "Dick &Jane"; FATHER, MOTHER did not look or dressed like "Mama y Papa'. Dick had a "PONY", an animal, which made a noise "Clipity-Clop" as he walked down the "Bridal Path". Please tell me, how could we as 8 year old Laredo Children "Relate" to these "IMAGES"?

The closest "IMAGE" to this animal to which we were exposed would have to be the "Lone Ranger series" on Sat. afternoons@ "El Teatro Mejico".

As for the sound "EFFECTS" of the "Pony's walk", it was more like "Tikitan-tikitan, Tickitan tan tan sang to the tune of "William Tell's Overture" as we ran our "Mora-Branch Stick Horse" into the sunset of "The Streets of Laredo".

Many years later, I became an Elementary School (East Tx. State Teachers Collage 1969) and was recruited to teach 5th grade in California.  Why California? you ask? The salary offered was $4,600.00 a year; Tx. best offer was $2,800.00.

However, I was received by a communities of 95% Raza ! They had NEVER seen a Chicano Teacher.  Mr.. Garza's mentoring lessons came back to me.

I taught from 8:00 a.m. 'til 3:00 p.m., then I would supervise after school play ground, then I would make home-visits.

I asked permission from the communities if it was O.K. for me to wear a shirt & tie or did they think that it made me think that I was better then "They"? ("(Dick & Jane FATHER image came to mind)

The parents saw me out in the playground in "T" shirt, sweaty & dirty, so they said, "Mr.. Ayala, our kids LOVE to see someone "Como nosotros" wearing a shirt & tie to work. BINGO !

I had a "Parents meeting in my room every night prior to "P.T.A.". I wound go over the "AGENDA" with them, so they would know what would be happening..

From the "Pledge of Allegiance" ritual, Previous meeting minutes, treasury Report, etc. Needless to say, my room always "WON" the "Cookie Jar" for having the most Parents in attendance.

In 1969 I received a "Fellowship for Experienced Mex-American Teachers" to be trained as "Change Agents in the school system for Mexican-American students.

WOW ! I had not even applied,; one of the recruiters had been a teacher in Bakersfield, Ca., where I had been teaching. He & I were 2 of the 5 Mexican American (M/A) teachers employed by a district of 1200 teachers; with a 33% M/A student population.

For my thesis I chose " Bilingual- Bicultural Early Childhood Education"; The Ayala Dual Language instructional Method, Strong Parent Participation, Staff Development & Material Development.

As a result of all the "ERRORS" I saw in my educational career I tried to include into this program.

The Program lasted 23 years in 5 northern Ca. counties, 10 school districts and was extended to served the Asian Refugees as they started to arrive. Then came the "Slav" Refugees i.e. Russian, Ukraine, Romanians plus others.

Gracias a Dios, mi familia Mr.. Garza, LULACS & the support of my friends, The Laredo Times for letting me sell it at the corner of "Kress". Ms. Edna Deats, who allowed me to run her "News Stand" for 3 years while I finished MHS, she also introduced me to the ins & outs of he ""Anglo High Society of Laredo.

Every school we served had an objective which required every K-1st grader's home to be visited by the end of the second month of school. The teachers & Assistants were paid salary & mileage.

Sorry I made this so long , however YOU inspired me.  Como siempre, con RESPETO y CARINO, se firma, su seguro servidor,

"Ora es cuando EL CHILE le da savor al caldo"!

Dr. Armando A. Ayala

However, despite the fact that Latinos have recently made some academic gains, disparities still exist in academic performance between Latinos and non- Latino White students. Very few Latino immigrants have the ambitions and aspirations for anything more than providing a decent living for their families here in the United States or in their native countries. Most of them are hard workers, and they seem satisfied just with living life with whatever they can get from their labors. Latino education is in dire need of role models willing to go back and visit these inner city neighborhoods and talk and speak out on the power of education, it being the key to success.

The journey in itself is fast-paced, and technology is ever-changing; Latino education needs a clear vision and a steady direction. Although the journey is filled with uncertainties, Latino education will undoubtedly, cast away its traditional mentality and will rise to its academic expectations. But we Latino leaders must do it ourselves, now and today; our generations will benefit from our passion and efforts, but we gotta act "ahora"...tomorrow may be too late.

Hello Mimi, I am forwarding to you an e-mail I received from my cousin Liza regarding her sister/my cousin Zhee Zhee (pronouced Gi Gi). Zhee Zhee is a teacher at Mira Mesa High School in San Diego. I just had to share her and her students accomplishment. Thank you.

Shaigalea Simmons is a low income senior at Mira Mesa High School, comes from a broken home life, has had academic and learning development struggles, and is bussed in from South East San Diego to Mira Mesa High School…..

Chef Zhee Zhee, her teacher at Mira Mesa High School, noticed (as everyone who knows Zhee, she is very aware of "all") Shaigalea and her personal situations- she also noticed Shaigalea had talents and dreams, she just needed some assistance and opportunities to help them bloom.A few months ago Zhee Zhee researched several University/College scholarships for her students. She has been spending numerous long hours during and after school since early January helping her students prepare for cooking competitions (advising/coaching them, taking them shopping for their menus, etc.)— these competitions if won could provide them with scholarships to their dreams.

About a month ago Shaigalea won a $30,000 scholarship to Johnson &  Wales University in North Carolina! This was so extraordinary!

The winning position she attained entitled her to a free trip for herself, her teacher, and her mom to Johnson &Wales for their National Chef of the Year competition that took place this past weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina- grand prize $80,000 scholarship.

Shaigalea won 1st place on Sat., $80,000 scholarship!!!! 
For winning recipe: Thai Style Basil Chicken with Spicy Red Onion Jam . . . go to:
http://culinary.jwu.edu/content2511.html 

Anjelica Collins navigated the socially turbulent world of middle school with care. She forged two tight friendships and became the first girl president of the technology club at her West Side middle school, but lost a bid for student council president. She honed her ability as a flutist and public speaker.

Her mother, Rosario Colunga-Collins, said she was always a bit reserved, and the academic gifts now earning her honors seldom are the stuff of adolescent popularity contests.

The 14-year-old recently won a four-year, merit-based Batten scholarship to Culver Academy, a boarding school in Culver, Ind., where she plans to enroll in the fall.

Last year she won a chance to study at the University of Kansas during the summer, and this fall she won a national Jack Kent Cooke award for young scholars, what her mentor calls "the Nobel Prize for seventh-graders."

Not bad for a kid who attends the Rhodes Middle School technology magnet program on the West Side, where the San Antonio and Edgewood independent school districts come together.

So many honors for one so young Anjelica Collins, 14, is in the technology magnet program at Rhodes Middle School.

Batten scholarship: A four-year scholarship to Culver Academy, a college-prep boarding school in Culver, Ind. In addition to covering room and board, the scholarship pays for a sophomore social service mission and a junior year abroad.

Jack Kent Cooke Young Scholars: The national honor from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, which was founded by donations by the late owner of the

Washington Redskins, provides an educational adviser and about $15,000 a year in financial assistance for a scholar through high school. Young scholars also are eligible for college scholarships.

Duke Talent Identification Program: Seventh-graders who perform well on the SAT or ACT qualify to spend three weeks during the summer studying ata college campus through a program for high-achieving seventh-graders sponsored by Duke University. Anjelica studied medical science at the University of Kansas last summer.

In her Batten scholarship essay, Anjelica described the neighborhood as "synonymous with dropouts, gangs, drugs and leads the city in teen pregnancies."

Anjelica was among 63 students selected in 2006 by the Virginia-based Jack Kent Cooke Foundation from more than 800 low-income, high-achieving seventh-graders.

The scholarships, which reach students with an average family income of $25,000, provide financial support and an academic adviser who stays with the student from eighth grade through high school.

Named for the late owner of the Washington Redskins football team, the foundation has research showing that smart low-income kids . those in the top quartile on aptitude tests and in the bottom half economically . make up about 7 percent of American schoolchildren, said Joshua Wyner, vice president for programs. These students are being lost at every grade level, and only about half graduate from college, he said. The middle school years are fraught for virtually all kids. But they're tougher on low-income kids, who face particular challenges throughout their school years.

The scholars program seeks to catch high-achieving, low-income kids early enough to nurture them through adolescence, at an age when opportunities for magnet and summer programs as well as selective high schools open up. "There are some developmental things going on that inform how one works with middle school students," Wyner said. "That said, I think it's dangerous to pick any period of time and say this is the most important time to work with students. We lose high-achieving, low-income kids throughout the education pipeline."

For her recent string of achievements, Anjelica credits the influence of her mother, three favorite teachers at Maverick Elementary School and especially Teresa Van Hoy, a professor who teaches SAT preparatory classes after school to San Antonio Independent School District middle school students. Van Hoy started the San Antonio Stand and Deliver program in 2002 because she felt her boys, Rhodes students, and their magnet school classmates weren't being exposed to academic opportunities such as a Duke University-sponsored summer program for brainy adolescents.

Anjelica was one of two participating seventh-graders who scored high enough on her SAT to study medical science for three weeks last summer at the University of Kansas. "Just to spend a half hour debating the newest medical discovery. ... If I started talking about that at Rhodes, I'd get some pretty weird looks. I was never once called 'nerd.' I used some pretty big words. We discussed books. It was wonderful being with people who were at my level or above," Anjelica said.

Though it pains her to leave her mother and two closest friends, on avisit to Culver she took comfort in the dorm room of another Batten scholar, decorated with photographs of friends from home. "At a boarding school, everyone is starting over. The uniform thing helps. If you accomplish something, it's because of what you do," Anjelica said.

The Batten scholarship also pays for Anjelica to participate in a mission that could take her anywhere from Louisiana to Croatia to do social service work during the spring of her sophomore year, and an international educational experience her junior summer, said Larry Bess, Culver's associate director of admissions. Bess said Anjelica impressed him from the moment she showed up for an interview at a San Antonio hotel.

"She was just extraordinarily confident, but it was a quiet, steadfast sort of confidence. She asked such strong, sound questions," he said. Anjelica hopes Culver will provide another springboard. She recently asked Van Hoy to hand-deliver a letter to Sorin Istrail, a Brown University computational molecular biologist with whom she'd like to study one day.

"We come from a very, very traditional Hispanic family. You didn't leave the house until you were married and made your own home," Colunga-Collins said. "Having to work as a mother and now as a single mom, you have to evolve. Our girls have to ... stand up for themselves. If she wants to be a wife and mother, that's great, but if she doesn't want to, then (she has her) education."

Source: rvazquez@LARED-LATINA.COM 

Estimada Gente:

When we don't know about our history or are not taught about our contributions to this country, then we are led to believe that we do not have significance or that we have not contributed to its development since the before the Revolutionary War (and of course before), which is a misrepresentation of history.

Here is something for all of us to learn about nuestra historia being released by Dr. David Hayes Bautista (UCLA) today, May 4th.

Saludos, Richard Esquivel

Latino Scientists during WWII.

Latino civilians that contributed to the War cause. Dr Luis W. Alvarez, the physicist and his son, Dr Walter Alvarez, the geologist.

Dr. Luis W. Alvarez invented three things that help in WWII, the aircraft radar, the zoom camera lens and the microwaves used on the aircraft Ground Control Approach (GCA) use for night and bad weather landings.

Both father and son came up with the idea of what cause the extinction of the dinosaurs. http://www.fas.org/rlg/alvarez.htm
http://eps.berkley.edu/cgi/cgi-bin/faculty.cgi?name=alvarez http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databand/entries/do80di.html

Whenever this dinosaur theory is taught in school, I always ask her teachers, who came up with that theory. They usually say, oh some scientist. I reply No! No! No!. Dr Luis Alvarez and his son Dr Walter Alvarez.

Rafael Ojeda RSNOJEDA@aol.com

Since the Spring of 2006, "Caminos" is growing more concerned about the restlessness among Hispanic youth amid reports which I receive from schools, that they feel like outsiders and are not respected in Kansas City. The reports for the most part are about teenager's who were bought to this area when they were younger, from Mexico or other Spanish-speaking countries.

In the summer of 2006, the Fordham Foundation zeroed in on the lack of history taught in schools. Specifically these are comments which pointed out the lack of history studies about Spanish-speaking countries, as Mexico, Central and South America. Could this uneducated part of individuals lead to racism and intolerance on the part of the majority?

In several discussions among Hispanic military veterans, they appreciated the opportunity to defend this country and to being treated as equals. But, there was also quite a bit of explaining about one's own background. For example, when I spent "boot camp" in Great Lakes, Illinois several years ago, I was the only Mexican-American in my company at boot camp. I must say that I got along very well with the other 99 members, but I was approached several times to explain myself. Most of the other members of the company were from New York City, Boston, New Jersey and the South. Most of them had seen Puerto Ricans on the East Coast. They had observed, but not really spoken with any of them. The questions to me were - what is the difference between a Puerto Rican and a Mexican? You speak English well - how did you learn English? What kind of foods do Mexican-Americans eat in Kansas City? And of course, "Don't they have a lot of cows and horses walking the streets of Kansas City?" These were very serious questions they asked. I have heard of several Mexican-Americans who experienced the same questions when they were in the military.

Rudy Padilla can be contacted at opkansas@swbell.net
Sent by Wanda Garcia wanda.garcia@sbcglobal.net

Programming initially consists of pickups, but original productions will air in the coming months. Main programming block includes "The Zula Patrol," which targets kids ages 3-8 and aims to teach them about Earth and other planets through the exploits of its wacky alien characters. Other skeins include "New MacDonald's Farm" and "Crawford's Corner."

"This is like an early visit from Santa Claus," beamed 11-year old Eduardo de los Santos, clutching his computer with its shiny white case and bright green trim.

The machines are the first in South America from the much-publicized "One Laptop Per Child" project, which hopes to put low-cost portable PCs in the hands of children in developing countries. Still in a pilot phase, the group has also placed machines at one school in Nigeria and another in Thailand.

At the only public elementary school in this community of 1,300 people, children who never used computers are now being exposed to the digital age. Earlier this week, they eagerly pecked at the machines' keyboards in their white smocks. 

The ambitious nonprofit project was launched in 2005 by Nicholas Negroponte, then-director of the media lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"There are 1 billion school-age children in the developing world and most don't have an opportunity to learn," said Walter Bender, president of software for the One Laptop project. "We're trying to go where there's an education gap, as technology happens to be a vehicle to bridge that gap."

The laptops currently cost about $175, though the project believes the price will drop to $100 price once the machines are mass-manufactured. Bender said he even hopes the price might be driven down "some day" to $50 each. 

And while the first computers to Uruguay were donated, the rest are to be bought by the government, which has budgeted $15 million for the program. A final agreement, however, is still pending. The portable computers have already transformed the classroom in Villa Cardal. 

"The power of these machines is impressive," said the school's principal, Marcelo Galain, noting their promised 12-hour battery life.  He said students got their computers a day ahead of a national holiday, but went on their day off to school to start using them.

There were a few technical glitches getting the computers up and running: Though none of the teachers had much experience with computing, they quickly realized that children with a tilde in their names were having the problem of logging on. The bug was quickly fixed.

Among all the crisis that plague the well-being of Latinos, diet, or lack of it, is at the top.

A new nutritional guide scheduled for a national roll-out this month, titled Camino Mágico, released this week by the Latino Nutrition Coalition and a company named Oldways presents yet another guide to get Latinos back on a healthy track.

What's remarkable about this guide is that it doesn't discount Latino cultural roots when it comes to creating healthy food choices - but builds on them.

As tiresome as it has become to hear the old stats, they're worth repeating:

* Obesity rates in US Hispanics doubled between 1991 and 2001, rising from 11.6% to 23.7%. (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)

* 23% of Hispanic males are obese, while 27.5% of Hispanic females are obese. Rates for non-Hispanic whites are slightly lower, at 22 and 21% respectively. (CDC)

* On average, Hispanic Americans are 1.9 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic whites of similar age. (National Diabetes Clearinghouse) 10.4% of men and 11.3% of women in the Hispanic population have diagnosed diabetes, compared to 7.2% of men and 6.3% of women in the general population. (CDC)

* Only 45.0% of Hispanic adults engage in at least some leisure-time physical activity, compared to 49.3% of non-Hispanic blacks and 65.7% of non-Hispanic whites. (CDC)

* Mexican-Americans have the highest age-adjusted rate of Metabolic Syndrome, at 31.9%. This compares to whites at 23.8%, African-Americans at 21.6% and "other" at 20.3%. Metabolic Syndrome is a combination of symptoms (waist size, blood pressure, fasting glucose, etc.) considered a precursor for diabetes and other chronic diseases.
(Source: Latino Nutrition Coalition)

What is so unique about this guide in addition to building on centuries of healthy eating habits as first practiced by Indian ancestors is that it is very much a visual guide as well - and practical.

One of the most disappointing features of any diet plan is how the authors of the plan work in foods that aren't normally part of our shopping habits. From what we've seen, this guide doesn't do that.

In fact, in an effort to get Latinos to rediscover our "roots" when it comes to eating healthy, the Latino Nutrition Coalition provides a page defining http://www.latinonutrition.org/LatinoFoodsAtoZ.html 

From the list, it's easy to see that the most basic ingredients have long been a part of our cultural diet. Somewhere along the way, they were forgotten.  As has been drilled in us all - it's never too late to start getting healthy, but it can be deadly if we don't do it at all.

Addy Perez-Mau selected from among 3.7 million companies in California

Sacramento, CA May 03, 2007 Sacramento, CA - A crowd of 500 business leaders, legislators, corporate partners, and small Business dignitaries applauded as Addy Perez-Mau was honored as "California Small Business of the Year" for District # 68. Owner Addy Perez-Mau received the special recognition from local legislators Assemblymember, Van Tran to applaud a single district-based small business for exemplifying the contributions of the California's 3.7 million small business owners to the California economy.

The award was announced on May 2nd at the annual California Small Business Day in Sacramento, and Heaven Sent Jewelry joined small businesses of the year identified in each of 80 state legislative districts. Scores of legislators joined in chorus to salute the spirit of Entrepreneurship among California's small business owners and operators throughout the day-long event. Mrs. Perez-Mau also received a Certificate of Recognition by Assemblymember Van Tran for "Over 24 years of service to the business community, and commitment unmatched by others. "

"We were humbled to have been selected for this award and it is a tribute to our customers and community," said Addy Perez-Mau.

"This is a special event when government, businesses, associations and community come together to honor the small business contributions of innovation, job creation and economic growth to the State of California," said Betty Jo Toccoli, President of the California Small Business Association, on behalf of the two-dozen small business organizations hosting the event.

Small businesses serve as the primary economic engine that drives the state's economy. Over one-half of Californians employed in the private sector work for small business. The state's small firms produce more new jobs, more inventions, and more patents, than any other size company in California or any other state in the nation.

Heaven Sent Jewelry has become a nationwide inspiration. Established in December 2003, Addy Perez-Mau has been recognized and received various awards. She also received the  SBA Region IX Home-Based Business Champion on May 17, 2007.

Contrast the situation in Virginia, founded in 1607 and now celebrating its 400th anniversary. Are the Indians of Virginia protesting the arrival of English "settlers"? No, because all Indians along the east coast were virtually exterminated. Not a single Indian settlement exists in Virginia, in Massachusetts, indeed, in the entire area east of the Mississippi, that was there when the English landed in Jamestown in 1607. What happened to the Indians living there? The English exterminated them, then the USA deported them to Oklahoma under threat of extermination. (That's why there are so many Indian groups in Oklahoma to this day.) So why is it that no one is it that no one is discussing the English extermination of Indians during Virginia's 400th anniversary? It's alright to focus on that in Spanish lands but not in the English east coast? Why?

The only place with a working Indian presence in the Southwest today is New Mexico. Yet some New Mexico Indians promote the idea that they have been exterminated. This is faulty history but Spain and Mexico continue to be picked on while ignoring England and the USA.

All Hispanic people need to publicize their history where Indians are concerned. The Hispanic civil rights record is second to none. Might the main problem be that Hispanics don't know their own history?

Puerto Ricans who had obtained U.S. citizenship as a result of the signing of the Jones-Shafroth Act on March 2, 1917 were expected to serve in the military if they met the required qualifications. When a Japanese carrier fleet launched an unexpected air attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Puerto Ricans were required to bear arms in defense of the United States. During World War II, over 53,000 Puerto Ricans served within the U.S. military.[1] Soldiers from the island, serving in the 65th Infantry Regiment, participated in combat in the European Theater - in Germany and Central Europe. Those who resided in the mainland of the United States were assigned to regular units of the military and served either in the European or Pacific theaters of the war. In some cases they were subject to the racial discrimination which at that time was widespread in the United States.[1]

The military did not keep statistics in regard to the total number of Hispanics who served in the regular units of the Armed Forces and therefore, it is impossible to determine the exact amount of Puerto Ricans who served in World War II.

The seeds of a full scale World War were planted in Asia in 1937 when Japan invaded China and in 1939 in Europe when Germany invaded Poland. In October 1940, the 295th and 296th Infantry Regiments of the Puerto Rican National Guard, founded by Major General Luis R. Esteves, were called into Federal Active Service and assigned to the Puerto Rican Department in accordance with the existing War Plan Orange.[2]

During that period of time, Puerto Rico's economy was suffering from the consequences of the Great Depression and unemployment was widespread. Unemployment was one the reasons that some Puerto Ricans choose to join the Armed Forces.

Most of these men were trained in Camp Las Casas in Santurce, Puerto Rico and were assigned to the 65th Infantry Regiment, a segregated unit made up mostly of Puerto Ricans. The rumors of war spread and the involvement of the United States was believed to be a question of time. The 65th Infantry was ordered to intensify its maneuvers, many of which were carried out at Punta Salinas near the town of Salinas in Puerto Rico.[3]Those who were assigned to the 295th and 296th regiments of the Puerto Rican National Guard received their training at Camp Tortuguero near the town of Vega Baja.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war and Puerto Ricans living on the island and on the U.S. mainland began to fill the ranks of the four major branches of the Armed Forces. Some volunteered for patriotic reasons, some joined in need of employment, and others were drafted.

In 1943, there were approximately 17,000 Puerto Ricans under arms, including the 65th Infantry Regiment and the Puerto Rico National Guard. The Puerto Rican units were stationed either in Puerto Rico or in the Virgin Islands.

France's possessions in the Caribbean began to protest against the Vichy government in France, a government backed up by the Germans who invaded France. The island of Martinique was on the verge of civil war. The United States organized a joint Army-Marine Corps task force, which included the 295th Infantry (minus one battalion) and the 78th Engineer Battalion, both from Puerto Rico for the occupation of Martinique. The use of these infantry units were put on hold because Martinique's local government decided to turn over control of the colonies to the French Committee of National Liberation.[4]

In 1943, the 65th Infantry was sent to Panama to protect the Pacific and the Atlantic sides of the isthmus. The 295th Infantry Regiment followed in 1944, departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico to the Panama Canal Zone. Among those who served with the 295th Regiment in the Panama Canal Zone was a young Second Lieutenant by the name of Carlos Betances Ramirez, who one day become the only Puerto Rican to command a Battalion in the Korean War.[5]That same year, the 65th Infantry was sent to North Africa, arriving at Casablanca, where they underwent further training. By April 29, 1944, the Regiment had landed in Italy and moved on to Corsica.[6]

On September 22, 1944, the 65th Infantry landed in France and was committed to action on the Maritime Alps at Peira Cava. The 3rd Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Juan Cesar Cordero Davila, fought against and defeated Germany's 34th Infantry Division's 107th Infantry Regiment.[7] There were 47 battle casualties, including Sergeant Angel Martinez from the town of Sabana Grande who became the first Puerto Rican to be killed in action from the 65th Infantry. On March 18, 1945, the regiment was sent to the District of Mannheim and assigned to military occupation duties. The regiment suffered a total of 23 soldiers killed in action.[8] [9]

On January 12, 1944, the 296th Infantry Regiment departed from Puerto Rico to the Panama Canal Zone. On April 1945, the unit returned to Puerto Rico and soon after was sent to Honolulu, Hawaii. The 296th arrived on June 25, 1944 and was attached to the Central Pacific Base Command at Kahuku Air Base.[10]

PFC. Santos Deliz was assigned to Battery D, 216 AAA, a gun battalion, and sent to Africa in 1943 to join General George S. Patton's Third Army. According to Deliz, Patton demanded the best from all under him, including cooks and kitchen hands Deliz once recounted an experience which he had with General Patton: "[Patton] went in to inspect [and] he scolded me because I had rations over the amount I should've had. The rations were food the GIs didn't want, so instead of dumping it, I sometimes gave it to the people who were around there." Deliz was the recipient of a Bronze Star Medal.[14]

Some Puerto Ricans served in the Army Air Corps. Among those who served in the Army Air Corps were Captain Mihiel "Mike" Gilormini and T/Sgt Clement Resto.

Captain Mihiel "Mike" Gilormini served in the Royal Air Force and in Army Air Corps during World War II. He was a flight commander whose last combat mission was attacking the airfield at Milano, Italy. His last flight in Italy gave air cover for General George C. Marshall's visit to Pisa. He was the recipient of the Silver Star Medal, the Air Medal with four clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross 5 times. Gilormini later became the Founder of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard and retired as Brigadier General.

T/Sgt Clement Resto served with the 303rd Bomb Group and participated in numerous bombing raids over Germany. During a bombing mission over Duren, Germany, Resto's plane, a B-17, was shot down . He was captured by the Gestapo and sent to Stalag XVII-B where spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. Resto, who lost an eye during his last mission, was awarded a Purple Heart, a POW Medal and an Air Medal with one battle star after he was liberated from captivity.[15][16]

When the United States entered World War II, Puerto Rican nurses volunteered for service but were not accepted into the Army or Navy Nurse Corps. In 1944, the Army Nurse Corps decided to actively recruit Puerto Rican nurses so that Army hospitals would not have to deal with the language barriers. Among them was Second Lieutenant Carmen Dumler, who became one of the first Puerto Rican female military officers. A total of 200 women from Puerto Rico served as nurses.

Not all the women served as nurses, some women served in administrative duties in the mainland or near combat zones. Such was the case of Tech4 Carmen Contreras-Bozak who belonged to the 149th Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. The 149th Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) Post Headquarters Company was the first WAAC Company to go overseas, setting sail from New York Harbor for Europe on January 1943. The unit arrived in Northern Africa on January 27, 1943 and rendered overseas duties in Algiers within General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s theater headquarters. Tech4 Carmen Contreras-Bozak, a member of this unit, was the first Hispanic to serve in the U.S. Women's Army Corps as an interpreter and in numerous administrative positions. .[20] [21]

Rear Admiral Frederick Lois Riefkohl , who was the Captain of the USS Vincennes, was assigned to the Fire Support Group, LOVE (with Transport Group XRAY) under the command of Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner's Task Force TARE (Amphibious Force) during the landing in the Solomon Islands on August 7, 1942..[23]

Prior to World War II, Rear Admiral Jose M. Cabanillas served aboard various cruisers, destroyers and submarines. In 1942, upon the outbreak of World War II, he was assigned Executive Officer of the USS Texas (BB-35). The Texas Participated in the invasion of North Africa. by destroying ammunition dump near Port Lyautey. Cabanillas also participated in the invasion of Normandy on D-day.

Rear Admiral Edmund Ernest Garcia was the commander of the Destroyer USS Sloat and saw action in the invasions of North Africa, Sicily and France.

Admiral Horacio Rivero, Jr., served aboard the USS San Juan (CL-54) and was involved in providing artillery cover for Marines landing on Guadalcanal, Marshall Islands, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. For his service he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat "V."[24]

Captain Marion Frederic Ramirez de Arellano was a submarine commander in the Navy who was awarded two Silver Star Medals, the Legion of Merit, and a Bronze Star Medal for his actions against the Japanese Imperial Navy. Not only is he credited with the sinking of at least two Japanese ships, but he also led the rescue of the lives of numerous downed Navy pilots.[25]

Rear Admiral Rafael Celestino Benitez, who was at the time a Lieutenant Commander, saw action aboard submarines and on various occasions weathered depth charge attacks. For his actions, he was awarded the Silver and Bronze Star Medals. Benitez would later play an important role in the first American undersea spy mission of the cold war as commander of the submarine USS Cochino in what became known as the "Cochino Incident".[26]

During World War II, the United States Army was segregated. Puerto Ricans who resided in the mainland and who were fluent in English served alongside their "White" counterparts. "Black" Puerto Ricans were assigned to units made up mostly of African-Americans. The vast majority of the Puerto Ricans from the island served in Puerto Rico's segregated units, like the 65th Infantry and the Puerto Rico National Guard's 285th and 296th regiments. Racial discrimination practiced against Hispanic Americans, including Puerto Ricans in the United States East coast and Mexican-Americans in California and the Southwest was widespread. Some Puerto Ricans who served in regular Army units were witnesses to the racial discrimination of the day.[17]

In an interview, PFC Raul Rios Rodriguez said that during his basic training at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, he had encountered a strict drill instructor who was particularly harsh on the Hispanic and black soldiers in his unit.

He stated that he remains resentful of the discriminatory treatment that Latino and black soldiers received during basic training. "We were all soldiers; we were all risking our lives for the United States. That should have never been done, Never."

Rios Rodriguez was shipped to Le Havre, France, assigned to guard bridges and supply depots in France and Germany with the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.[18]

Another soldier, PFC Felix López-Santos was drafted into the Army and sent to Fort Dix in New Jersey for training. López -Santos went to Milne Bay and then to the small island of Woodlark, both in New Guinea, where he was in the communications department using telephone wires to communicate to the troop during the war.

On October 27, 1945, the 65th Infantry who had participated in the battles of Naples-Fogis, Rome-Arno, central Europe and of the Rhineland sailed home from France. Arriving at Puerto Rico on November 9, 1945, they were received by the local population as National heroes and given a victorious reception at the Military Terminal of Camp Buchanan. The 295th Regiment returned on February 20, 1946 from the Panama Canal Zone and the 296th Regiment on March 6. Both regiments were awarded the American Theatre streamer (The 295th was also awarded the Pacific Theatre streamer) and were inactivated that same year.[29]

Many of the men and women who were discharged after the war returned to their civilian jobs or made use of the educational benefits of the G.I. Bill. Others, such as Major General Juan Cesar Cordero Davila, Colonel Carlos Betances Ramirez, Sergeant First Class Agustin Ramos Calero and Master Sergeant Pedro Rodriguez continued in the military as career soldiers and went on to serve in the Korean War.

Some of the Puerto Ricans from the mainland who had not completed their full active duty in the military service were reassigned to the 65th Infantry in Puerto Rico. According to remarks made by Frank Bonilla in an interview, he discovered that there was a divide among the soldiers. The Puerto Ricans who had emigrated to the mainland were seen as "American Joes." while Puerto Ricans from the island considered themselves "pure" Puerto Ricans. Bonilla is quoted as saying:

"The Puerto Rican soldiers paid little, if any, attention to the playing of the 'Star Spangled Banner," Bonilla at first thought the soldiers were being disrespectful to the United States, especially since they stood at attention whenever "La Borinqueña," the Puerto Rican anthem, was played. "The soldiers in the regiment, although proud to be U.S. citizens, felt that they were a Puerto Rican army, not a US army," Mr. Bonilla said. "These men had a select unit pride because they had had more time overseas and in combat areas than the American units."[30]

1. a b Introduction: World War II (1941 -1945). Hispanics in the Defense of America. Retrieved on March 19, 2007.

2. Hector Marin. Puerto Rican Units (WWII). Hispanics in Americas Defense. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

3. Bruce C. Ruiz (November 1, 2002). Major General Luis Raúl Esteves Völckers. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

4. Stetson Conn, Rose C. Engelman, and Byron Fairchild (1961). The Caribbean in Wartime. U.S. Army in World War II: Guarding the United States and Its Outposts. Center of Military History, United States Army. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

5. Carlos Betances Ramirez

6. Military History. American Veteran's Committee for Puerto Rico Self-Determination. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

7. LTC Gilberto Villahermosa (September 2000). World War II. "Honor and Fidelity" - The 65th Infantry Regiment in Korea 1950 - 1954 (Official Army Report on the 65th Infantry Regiment). U.S. Army Center of Military History. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

8. W.W. Harris (2001). Puerto Rico's Fighting 65th U.S. Infantry:From San Juan to Chowon. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-056-2.

9. Juan Cesar Cordero-Davila. ZoomInfo (2000). Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

10. Shelby, Stanton (1984). World War II Order of Battle. New York: Galahad Books.

11. Juan De La Cruz. Combat engineer Fernando Pagan went from Normandy to Belgium and Germany, where a sniper nearly killed him. US Latinos and Latinas & World War II. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

12. Jennifer Nalewicki. Louis Ramirez recalls brutality of war; but what still shines through is the camaraderie. U.S. Latinos and Latinas & World War II. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

13. Who was Agustín Ramos Calero? (PDF). The Puerto Rican Soldier (August 17, 2005). Retrieved on November 19, 2006.

14. Chris Nay. Santos Deliz. US Latinos and Latinas & World War II. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

15. Memories of a Jug Driver. World War II Pilots. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

16. T/SGT. Clement Resto. Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

17. Discrimination. History.com. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

18. D’Arcy Kerschen. Despite war’s end and brother’s horror stories, man was intent on joining military. US Latinos and Latinas & World War II. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

19. Juan de la Cruz. Man survived jungle fever, suicide attacks and kangaroos during service in Pacific. US Latinos and Latinas & World War II. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

20. Judith Bellafaire. Puerto Rican Servicewomen in Defense of the Nation. Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation. Retrieved on October 10, 2006.

21. Katie Kennon. Young woman's life defined by service in Women's Army Corps. US Latinos and Latinas & World War II. Retrieved on October 10, 2006.

22. USNA graduates of Hispanic descent for the Class of 1911, 1915, 1924, 1927, 1931, 1935, 1939, 1943, 1947. Association of Naval Service Officers. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

23. David H. Lippman. World War II Plus 55. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

24. *Robert F. Dorr (January 26, 2004). Damn the Torpedoes! Former VCNO excelled in combat, technical roles. Navy Times. Archived from the original on January 21, 2004. Retrieved on October 21, 2006.

25. CAPT Marion Frederic Ramirez de Arellano. USNA graduates of Hispanic descent for the Class of 1911, 1915, 1924, 1927, 1931, 1935, 1939, 1943, 1947. Association of Naval Services Officers (February 27, 2007). Retrieved on March 15, 2007.

26. a b *Sontag, Sherry; and Christopher Drew, with Annette Lawrence Drew (1998). Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. Public Affairs. ISBN:006097771X.

27. Puerto Rico Archives

28. Lieutenant General Pedro A. Del Valle, USMC. History Division. United States Marine Corps. Retrieved on October 10, 2006.

29. The Puerto Rican Soldier. El Pozo Productions (2001). Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

30. Anne Quach. Frank Bonilla became major figure in Puerto Rican studies. US Latinos and Latinas & World War II. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

31. Minority Groups in World War II. U.S. Army Center of Military History. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

32. World War II By The Numbers. The National World War II Museum (2006). Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

33. Monumento de la Recordacion. Searching For Our Roots (February 10, 2006). Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

Hispanics in the Defense of America. America USA (1996-2007). Retrieved on March 19, 2007.

Stetson Conn, Rose C. Engelman, and Byron Fairchild (1961). U.S. Army in World War II: Guarding the United States and Its Outposts. Center of Military History, United States Army. Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

US Latinos and Latinas & World War II. University of Texas at Austin (1990-2007). Retrieved on March 18, 2007.

(1997) 65th Infantry Division. Turner Publishing. ISBN 1563111187.

del Valle, Pedro (1976). Semper fidelis: An autobiography. Christian Book Club of America. ASIN B0006COTKO.

Esteves, General Luis Raúl (1955). ¡Los Soldados Son Así!. San Juan, Puerto Rico: Star Publishing Co.. Retrieved on March 20, 2007.

Gordy, Bill (1945). Right to be proud: History of the 65th infantry division's march across Germany. J. Wimmer. ASIN B0007J8K74.

Lederer, Commander William J., USN (1950). The Last Cruise: The Story of the Sinking of the Submarine, U.S.S. Cochino. Sloane. ASIN B0007E631Y.

My friends Ercheck and Ben Cartwright who helped in the copyediting and to my friend Miguel Hernandez who provided me with much needed information

Some good info for our Latino WWII veterans that were POW, but never received their POW Medal. http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/images/medals/pow_medal.htm

Rafael Ojeda RSNOJEDA@aol.com

Brad and Dave,

I am forwarding a picture of Bashaw taken in September of 1953, at Fox Island, on Puget Sound, Washington. The boat is making a landing on the "Sound Barge" moored on the Carr Inlet side of Fox Island, which is across the narrows from Tacoma, Washington. We submerged the boat near the barge, operating various pumps and machinery, so that the barge could record our sonar signature. We also recorded various noise sources originating from the barge on the BQR-4, while submerged at various locations. All of this was to obtain data to measure our quietness (sound signature), and to evaluate the effectiveness of the BQR-4. The barge was operated by civilian scientist from the Naval Electronics Laboratory (NEL), Point Loma, San Diego. It was two weeks of liberty in Tacoma, with their strict "Blue Laws" on drinking.

On the bridge is the Skipper, Harold "Tut" Fry in the baseball cap, "Hap" Perry the EXO and Navigator immediately above Fry, and me as OOD with black tie. The Chief Petty Officer helping with the bow line is the Chief of the Boat, Norman "Porky" Lamer. The officer who's head appears above above Porky is LTJG Zeke Zabinius.

Fox Island was chosen for the site of these tests required quiet water. Because of the brackish salt water, diluted by all the fresh water being dumped into the sea by all the fresh water Washington streams, sea life noises such as that caused by snapping shrimp, whistling dolphins, croaker, whistling whales and the like were none existent. However, Mullet fish were numerous, and when they broke water while rising to the surface for food they could be heard jumping for miles.

More on this caper later.

Very Best,  Paul

May you have fair winds and following seas along life's stormy path.

Sent by Paul Trejo, Retired Navy
PGBlueCoat@aol.com

IT MUST BE A GENERATION THING

By Ben Romero
bromero98@comcast.net

THE SEWING MACHINE
LA MAQUINA DE COSER 

by Vicente Riva Palacio - translation by Ted Vincent

The following story from Vicente Riva Palacio is one that he wrote 
during the last years of his life while he lived in Madrid.

It was, indeed, a beautiful machine that Martha’s father had given his daughter in the family’s better times. But now it was an arm in the terrible struggle for survival for the two poor women, who fought with heroic energy, it being the raft after the shipwreck, nothing else to pawn but the machine, clean, brilliant, adorning the room, for them it was as the most luxurious of wedding gifts.

When Dona Juana became a widow she commenced to dedicate herself to work, sewing and sewing with her daughter, without rest, without wasting a breath, but such labor brought little remuneration, and each week it was necessary to sell a piece 
of furniture or pawn a piece of clothing.

The mother and daughter were the admiration of their neighbors. In their poor little domicile they appeared to have discovered perpetual motion, because there wasn’t an hour when one didn’t hear the monotonous hum of the sewing machine.

Don Bruno, who played the piano in a café, and returned home at two in the morning, had to pass by the little home of Martha, and he always saw the light and heard the noise of the machine. The same was recounted by Mariano an accompanist at the Apollo theater, and Pepita the cleaning lady, a servant of certain attractiveness, who said that in the summer, when the sun bathed the room, and the heat of mid-day was insupportable, she would rise at three in the morning to iron in the fresh air and always she heard her neighbors sewing.

When did these poor women sleep? None of their neighbors knew. When one felt worn out she threw herself dressed upon the bed, while the other continued the work.

But, at last, there came a day that shook loose the worthy determined woman. The landlord came to collect for three months, Dona Juana didn’t have even enough to one. It was summer and the women clients who could save them couldn’t be found in Madrid, a few were in Biarritz, others in San Sebastian, others in Sardinero de Santander, and the landlord remained inflexible.

There was no other option: pawn the machine or leave with her daughter to beg in the middle of the street.

When Martha saw Don Pablo the doorman carrying it, taking hope and her youth with it, she felt like a member of the family had expired.

The doorman left, and Martha turned her eyes to the place where the sewing machine had been. She looked at the dust on the floor and saw a drawing of the spot where it had rested, and she felt at this moment that she was left an orphan. In the dust all of it came to appear before her eyes.

Bread and lodging for one month. And after that?... She covered her face and threw her body upon the bed and began to silently cry, as do children before they fall asleep.

* * *
On a morning many months later, General Caceres was seating himself for breakfast when his steward handed him a pretty silver tray on which was a letter. The General opened it and while reading it a smile grew across his face until it ended in a nearly loud laugh.

"Such are the curious doings of my sister," he said to those at the table. "It would not even occur to the devil to ask an old soldier and bachelor to buy a sewing machine."

"The Marquesa is going to dedicate herself to sewing?" one of the friends asked with a smile.

"It would be good if she did, but I have never seen it," said the General. "But she wants to make a gift of a machine to a young woman in Segovia who is a good worker, and she wants me to find her one. Susan invents a new military decree: Attention, save the poor and the ranch!

"Zapata, I order Pedrosa to obtain one at once." Zapata was the scribe and Pedrosa the butler, and the two knew that the General had the sweetest disposition in the world, so long as one did not contradict him one followed his thoughts.

The other servants began to serve breakfast, and in a few moments Pedrosa presented himself.

"Listen, you," said the General at seeing him. "You look over this letter from my sister. And you need to look over the items at the pawn shop for a sewing machine. You are to go buy it immediately."

"My General, I don’t know if today the selection includes a sewing machine."

"Don’t complicate matters. You go for this knickknack to send to the Marquesa. One like you should be ready for service. Do you understand machines?"

"Yes, my General."

"Then get going."

It was time for coffee when Pedrosa returned dripping from sweat and red from fatigue.

"Here is the machine."

"Good. Prepare yourself to take it by train this afternoon. But no. You can carry it here. I want to inspect one of these machines, I am not familiar with them."

"But my General," said on in the congregation, "Would you want to make us believe that you have never seen one with 
a dressmaker."

"Yes, that I have, on various occasions. But to you, I give my word of honor, as a military man, that if I saw a sewing machine, the apparatus was not functioning during my visit."

They brought the machine to the dining room and all gathered around it, and each of them gave an opinion about the wheels and levers and wished to move them from one mode to the other, all with the most perfect ignorance.

"This good citizen," said the General, "who knows what drove this woman to pawn it. Poor woman! Perhaps what it cost was a sacrifice that drove this woman to the pawn shop, obliged by necessity."

"Or, perhaps she made a fortune and didn’t want to work anymore," offered one of those gathered.

""Doctor," said the General, "Nobody pawns when one has a fortune. I would give something to know who owned this machine."

"And for what?"

"In order to take it. And why? To return it to her, because if she didn’t have to pawn it she was free to sell it. It will be because she does not have it now, and I can purchase another for my sister. If she wants to give away a machine, why can’t I give away another?"

Pedrosa, who well knew that when the General decided something one had better carry it forward, seized the moment to say, "If my General wants, I can go to the pawn shop and from its papers find out who was the owner."

"Then do it now. Get yourself a carrier and take the machine to the poor woman who pawned it."

"My General, if they ask me who sent me?"

"Well, say you come in behalf of a caballero, in behalf of a Senora. Invent a story. However, whatever you fancy you dream up, at all cost be sure my name is not mentioned to anybody."

Pedrosa left in a hurry, and all the others returned to their respective cups of coffee.

* * *

On the pleasant first floor up of Barquillo street, an animated crowd was having lunch. It was the house of Celeste, that was the nom de guerre of the beautiful proprietor of this nest of love. Two or three of her women friends were with her, along with others and some friends of the young Marquis who covered the rent on this house.

The after dinner conversation was dragging on. One heard loud laughs and noise of cups, and Celeste’s mother came and went arranging the things which, although lacking in grandeur, had served in houses where grandeur was the normal state.

Suddenly the bell sounded. Someone called on the stairs, there was a rustle by the door and a few moments later the maidservant entered, she was a little French girl with airs of a gypsy and she came to Celeste and said, "Senora, there is a man who brings a sewing machine as a present for the Senora."

"For me?" said Celeste with grand admiration. "One must have mistaken the address."

"That is what I told him. But he insists it is for the Senora."

"Bring this curious thing. I want to see it."

The maidservant left and spicy jokes crossed between the guests over the meaning of this present. The mother of Celeste, at the side of the door, waited also with curiosity.

The porter entered carrying the machine, and placed it in the middle of the dining room and retired immediately.

Celeste went to it smiling, and walked around the piece. Suddenly a cloud of sadness covered her face. With a trembling hand she opened the little doors and exclaimed with a moan that she directed toward the woman in the doorway.

"Mother, our machine."

All were silent, respecting the mystery. A 
few tears fell from Celeste’s eyes upon the iron springs of the apparatus. "Who brought this?" She said suddenly. "Who came, tell me who brought this?"

Pedrosa entered the room. He understood what had happened and overcome with sentiment for the woman, he explained all, without hiding the name of the General.

Celeste listened until the end, and after gathering herself she said to Pedrosa, "You can tell the General that with all my heart I thank him for this gift. But I can not except it. Because it is too late, very late, unfortunately. You should take this machine. I do not want in my house. I do not wish to see it, because it brings me remorse. This is a gift that should be given to an honorable woman, a gift that should be given, for many times the lack of a sewing machine drives a young woman onto the road of vice... But no, wait here a moment."

Celeste, as if she was alone, left the dining room quickly and when to her sitting room, opened a prized little chest and took out a spool of slightly worked thread. She returned to the dining room, moved the springs on the machine, and placed in the spool, as if it was ready to run, and looking at Pedrosa she said,

"I tell you that I have placed this spool, the last one that this machine had, and it is placed as a gift, this is the gift of an honorable young woman for the young lady in Segova."

Todo se había empeñado o vendido. En aquella pobre casa no quedaban más que las camas de doña Juana y de su hija Marta; algunas sillas tan desvencijadas que nadie las habría comprado; una mesita, coja por cierto, y la máquina de coser.

Eso sí; una hermosa máquina que el padre de Marta había regalado a su hija en los tiempos bonancibles de la familia. Pero aquella era el arma de combate de las dos pobres mujeres en la terrible lucha por la existencia que sostenían con un valor y una energía heroicos; era como la tabla en un naufragio; de todo se habían desprendido; nada les quedaba que empeñar; pero la máquina, limpia, brillante, adornaba aquel cuarto, para ellas, como el más lujoso de los ajuares.

Cuando quedó viuda doña Juana, comenzó a dedicarse al trabajo; cosía, y cosía con su hija, sin descanso, sin desalentarse jamás; pero aquel trabajo era poco productivo: cada semana había que vender algún mueble, alguna prenda de ropa.

La madre y la hija eran la admiración de las vecinas. En su pobre guardilla parecía haberse descubierto el movimiento perpetuo, porque a ninguna hora dejaba de oírse el zumbido monótono de la máquina de coser.

Don Bruno, que tocaba el piano en un café y volvía a casa a las dos de la mañana, al pasar por la puerta de la guardilla de Marta veía siempre la luz y oía el ruido de la máquina; lo mismo contaba Mariano, que era acomodador del teatro de Apolo; y Pepita la lavandera, una moza por cierto guapísima, decía que en verano, cuando el sol bañaba su cuarto y el calor era insoportable a mediodía, se levantaba a las tres a planchar, para aprovechar el fresco de la mañana, y siempre sentía que sus vecinas estaban cosiendo.

¿A qué hora dormían aquellas pobres mujeres? Ni ellas lo sabían. Cuando una se sentía rendida se echaba vestida sobre la cama, y mientras, la otra seguía en el trabajo.

Pero al fin llegó un día en que fue preciso desprenderse de aquella fiel amiga: el casero cobraba tres meses: doña Juana no tenía ni para pagar uno; era el verano, y las señoras que podían protegerla no se hallaban en Madrid; estaban unas en Biarritz, otras en San Sebastián, otras en el Sardinero de Santander, y el administrador se mostraba inflexible.

No había medio; empeñar la máquina, o salir con ella a pedir limosna en mitad de la calle.

Cuando Marta vio que don Pablo el portero cargaba con aquel mueble, esperanza y compañía de su juventud, sintió como’ si fuera a ver expirar una persona de su familia.

Salió el portero: Marta volvió los ojos al lugar que había ocupado la máquina; miró el polvo en el piso, dibujando la base de la pequeña cómoda, y le pareció como si se hubiera quedado huérfana en ese momento. Todo lo por venir apareció ante sus ojos.

Pan y habitación para un mes. ¿Y luego?... Se cubrió la cabeza, se arrojó sobre su cama y comenzó a llorar silenciosamente; y como les pasa a los niños, se quedó dormida.

* * *

Muchos meses después, una mañana, al sentarse a la mesa para almorzar el general Cáceres recibió una carta, que en una preciosa bandeja de plata le presentó su camarista. El General la abrió, y a medida que iba leyéndola se acentuaba una sonrisa en sus labios que vino a terminar casi en una carcajada.

-Son ocurrencias curiosas las de mi hermana -dijo a sus invitados; -ni al demonio se le ocurre encargar a un soldado viejo y solterón le compra de una máquina de coser.

-¿La Marquesa va a dedicarse a la costura? -preguntó sonriendo uno de los amigos.

-Buena está ella para eso, que ya ni ve -dije el General; -pero quiere regalar una máquina a una chica muy trabajadora de Segovia, y quiere que yo se la busque. Esta Susana un día inventa un nuevo toque de ordenanza: ¡llamada de pobres y rancho!

- Zapata, ¡di a Pedrosa que venga en seguida!" Zapata era el camarista, y Pedrosa el mayordomo, y los dos sabían que el General tenía el genio más dulce de la tierra con tal de que no le contradijeran y que le sirviesen al pensamiento.

Los otros criados comenzaron a servir el almuerzo, y pocos momentos después se presentó Pedrosa.

-Oiga usted -dijo el General al verle; -vea usted esta carta de mi hermana: que se le compre de los lotes del Monte de Piedad una máquina de coser; va usted a comprarla en seguida.

-Mi General, no sé si habrá hoy un lote de máquina.

-Yo no entiendo de eso. Va usted por ese chisme para enviarlo a la Marquesa. Que esté listo para todo servicio; ¿entiende usted de máquinas?

-Si, mi General.

-Pues en marcha.

Aún tomaban café cuando volvió Pedrosa sudando y rojo de fatiga.

-Ahí está ya la máquina.

-Bien: arréglela usted para que pueda ir esta tarde por el tren; pero no, tráigala usted aquí; quiero ver cómo es una de esas máquinas, que no las conozco.

-Pero, mi General- dijo uno de los convidados,-¿querrá usted hacernos creer que nunca ha tenido que ver con una modista ?

-Sí que he tenido, y con varias; pero doy a ustedes mi palabra de honor, como militar, que si han tenido máquina de coser, era el aparato que menos funcionaba durante mi visita.

Entraron la máquina al comedor; rodeándola todos, y cada uno de ellos daba su opinión sobre ruedas y palancas, y querían moverla de un modo y de otro, todo con la más perfecta ignorancia.

-Está bien cuidada -dijo el General; -se conoce que trabajaba la mujer que la mandó empeñar... ¡pobre mujer! Quizá le costó un sacrificio desprenderse de este mueble, obligada por la necesidad.

-O quizá le sopló la fortuna y no quiso trabajar más -replicó uno de los comensales.

-Doctor -dijo el General, - nadie empeña cuando sopla la fortuna. Algo daría yo por saber de quién era esta máquina.

-¿Y para qué?

-Toma, ¿y para qué? Para devolvérsela; que si no la ha desempeñado y ha dejado venderla, será porque no tiene todavía; yo compraría otra para mi hermana: si ella regala una máquina, ¿por qué no he de regalar yo otra?

Pedrosa, que ya sabía que cuando el General inventaba algo lo había de llevar adelante, se apresuró a decir:

-Si mi General quiere, por los papeles que dan en el Monte de Piedad puedo yo saber quién era la dueña.

-Pues en seguida tome usted un mozo de cuerda, y va usted con la máquina hasta entregarla a la pobre mujer que la empeñó.

-Mi General, ¿y si me preguntan de parte de quién voy?

-Bueno: diga usted que de parte de un caballero, de parte de una señora; invente usted un cuento; en fin, lo que a usted se le antoje; no más que no suene mi nombre para nada.

Pedrosa salió apresuradamente, y todos volvieron a tomar sus respectivas tazas de café.

* * *

En un alegre piso primero de la calle del Barquillo había habido un almuerzo animadísimo: era la casa de Celeste, que era el nombre de guerra de la hermosa propietaria de aquel nido de amores. Dos o tres amigas suyas estaban allí, y con ellas otros tantos amigos del joven Marqués que cubría los gastos de aquella casa.

La sobremesa se había prolongado; sonaban carcajadas y ruido de copas y la madre de Celeste entraba y salía disponiéndolo todo; que aunque nunca había tenido grandeza, había servido en casas en donde la grandeza era el estado normal.

Repentinamente sonó la campanilla: alguien llamaba en la escalera crujió la puerta, y pocos momentos después entró la doncella, que era una francesita con humos de gitana, y dirigiéndose a Celeste le dijo: -Señora, un hombre que trae regalada una máquina de coser para la señora.

-¿Para mí? -dijo con gran admiración Celeste-. Se habrán equivocado de cuarto.

-Ya se lo dije; pero insiste en que es para la señora.

-¡ Vaya una cosa curiosa!, a ver esa máquina; que la traigan aquí.

La doncella salió, y los chistes más picantes se cruzaron entre los convidados a propósito de aquel regalo. La madre de Celeste, al lado de la puerta, esperaba también con curiosidad.

El mozo de cuerda entró con la máquina, la colocó en medio del comedor y se retiró inmediatamente.

Celeste se levantó sonriendo; se acercó al mueble, y repentinamente una nube de tristeza cubrió su rostro; abrió con mano trémula las puertecillas, y exclamó como una especie de gemido, dirigiéndose a la mujer que estaba en la puerta:

-¡Madre, nuestra máquina!

Y se inclinó sobre el mueble silenciosamente.

Todos callaban, respetando aquel misterio; algunas lágrimas desprendidas de los ojos de Celeste caían sobre los acerados resortes del aparato.

-¿Quién ha traído esto? -dijo de repente. -Que entre, que me diga quién manda esto.

Pedrosa penetró en la habitación; comprendió lo que pasaba, y subyugado por el sentimiento de aquella mujer, contó todo, todo, sin ocultar el nombre del General.

Celeste escuchó hasta el final, y después, irguiéndose, le dijo a Pedrosa:

-Dígale usted al General que con toda mi alma le agradezco este regalo; pero que no lo acepto porque ya es tarde, muy tarde, por desgracia; llévese usted esa máquina, que no la quiero en mi casa, que no la quiero ver, porque sería para mí como un remordimiento. Que se la regalen a esa muchacha honrada; que se la regalen, que muchas veces la falta de una máquina de coser precipita a una joven en el camino del vicio...; pero no, espere usted un momento.

Celeste, como si estuviera sola, salió precipitadamente del comedor, llegó a su gabinete, abrió una preciosa gaveta, y sacó de allí un carrete de hilo, ya comenzado; volvió al comedor, hizo mover los resortes de la máquina, colocó allí el carrete como si ya fuera a trabajar y dirigiéndose a Pedrosa, le dijo:

-Dígale que yo misma he colocado ese carrete, el último que tuvo la máquina, y que lo guardaba como un recuerdo: ese es el regalo de la muchacha honrada para la joven de Segovia.