ABSTRACT
Prior to his death at the hands of a Japanese sniper in April 1945, World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle attracted an immense following for his intimate and folksy style of writing, a prose often written from the perspective of the common soldier. His descriptive accounts focused on the out-of-the-way places he visited and the daily ordeals endured by American servicemen overseas, ranging from the dangers associated with combat to the lack of hot meals and proper shower facilities. His interest on the mundane and routine also highlighted the ethnic composition of the rank and file in the U.S. military. For example, in the summer of 1943, while serving in the Sicilian campaign with the 120th Engineers Battalion of the 45th Infantry Division, Pyle made the following observation:
The 120th was made up of Spanish Americans, Indians, straight New Mexicans, and a smattering of men from the East . . . A large percentage of the battalion spoke Spanish, and occasionally I heard some of the officers talking Spanish among themselves, just to keep in practice, I suppose. That New Mexico bunch missed more than anything, I believe, the Spanish dishes they were accustomed to back home. Their folks occasionally sent them cans of chili and peppers, and then they had a minor feast. 1
This report from Sicily confirms the presence of Mexican Americans (and other Latinos) in the U.S. military during the Second World War. 2 Legally classified as white, despite the de facto reality of discriminatory treatment often associated with racialized “others,” Mexican American servicemen avoided the indignity of serving in segregated units endured by other marginalized communities. 3 They also displayed incredible tenacity and courage under fire, amassing eleven Medals of Honor during World War II, the nation’s highest award for valor on the battlefield. 4 In the postwar struggle for civil rights, such heroics would enable Mexican American activists to use the “battlefield exploits of Mexican American soldiers as irrefutable proof that the ethnic group was deserving of first-class citizenship.” 5
This chapter will offer a survey on how Mexican American youth embraced a tradition of martial citizenship from World War II through the Vietnam War that emphasized military service as a powerful avenue toward social and political equality. Class vulnerability and racial discrimination fueled a generational perception that service in the U.S. military was a type of social contract, one that offered the possibility of first-class citizenship and socioeconomic opportunity in return
for dedicated service. 6 Moreover, traditional notions of masculine honor and behavior often associated with Latin machismo further reinforced this linking of citizenship and soldiering. As literary critic George Mariscal has argued, a type of “warrior patriotism” has typified the Chicano drive to assimilate into the American mainstream, with historical antecedents in masculine codes of conduct within Mexico that celebrated the willingness to die in defense of “la patria” (fatherland). 7 When transferred to a modern U.S. context (1940-1980), ample opportunities emerged for Mexican American youth to answer the call to arms in accordance with this idealized vision of masculine and civic responsibility. 8
In what follows, I explore the catalysts that motivated Mexican American youth to enlist or readily accept their draft notice with a particular focus on socioeconomic mobility, gender identity, and the drive for inclusion into the American mainstream. By mapping the cultural context that influenced large elements of the Mexican American community, this analysis helps to illuminate how military service provided a central reference point in the attempt to understand citizenship and lay claim to national belonging. Additionally, as a social space imbued with its own martial and masculine ethos, the U.S. military offers an ideal location to study the aspirations and behaviors of these young men. As Gina M. Pérez has persuasively argued, “The U.S. military is an especially important institution to examine regarding . . . moments of inclusion and exclusion, not only because it symbolizes a vision of citizenship that rests on sacrifice, honor, and patriotism, but also because it is an invaluable vehicle for economic mobility for many working-class families.” 9
Obscured in this conceptual framework, however, was the very real prospect for damaging consequences associated with military service, including physical injury, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and drug and alcohol abuse. Furthermore, many veterans gained few transferable skills or proved unable to utilize the full range of benefits provided, in particular the GI Bill, which mitigated social mobility upon release from active duty. Such complications enhance my analysis by underscoring the need to move beyond mere celebratory assessments of military service and martial citizenship. They reveal the risks that Mexican American youth were willing to contemplate and the diverse consequences of military service, including the potential for a redefined sense of self willing to engage in political activism in pursuit of the full privileges of first class citizenship.
