Imperial Valley Press Online

Vietnam veterans push for inclusion in Ken Burns documentary
By JONATHAN ATHENS, Staff Writer

CUAUHTEMOC BELTRAN PHOTO
Vietnam veteran Edward Castillo-Rubio is among the local Vietnam veterans urging documentary filmmaker Ken Burns to include the participation of Hispanics in Burns’ upcoming film about the Vietnam War, to be shown in seven parts on PBS.

Monday, August 20, 2007 10:48 PM PDT

Barely two days after returning home to Holtville from an 11-month tour of duty in Vietnam, Ed Castillo found himself standing in an unemployment line.

Just 36 hours earlier, Castillo was in a combat zone. Though he was still reeling from post-combat trauma, Castillo said all he wanted at the time was a decent job, but the only work the unemployment office offered was a field job thinning lettuce, the kind of work he was doing before shipping off to fight communism in Southeast Asia.

“Don’t you think I should be able to get a regular job other than working in the fields?” said Castillo, recalling his remark to the employment counselor.

The counselor, as Castillo tells it, gave him this choice — take the job or lose your unemployment benefits.

Castillo made a choice — though he lost his benefits, he maintained his self-respect and found a new mission.

“I made it my special duty to see to it that no other veteran looking for a job would be treated like that,” he said.

Now retired from working as an employment counselor, the 62-year-old Castillo is commander of the Vietnam Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9305 of Imperial County.

The memory of having been so disrespected and disregarded when he returned from the Vietnam War in January 1967 have been rekindled in the form of a soon to be broadcast documentary made by acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns.

Castillo has joined the ranks of more than 60 organizations and individuals protesting the lack of representation of Hispanic veterans in the Burns documentary “The War,” slated to be broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System in September.

“I don’t think he’s a racist. I don’t think he’s aware of a few things. … He didn’t dig farther to realize that Latinos were an integral part of fighting for this country,” Castillo said.

A publicist for Burns and his New Hampshire-based film company could not be reached for comment. A receptionist for Burns’ film company, Florentine Films, said all representatives were “booked solid” in meetings early Monday afternoon and would not be available to comment by press time hours later that day.

Facing pressure from critics, Burns in May met with two Latino groups and allegedly said he would include interviews with some Latino veterans in his soon to be broadcast documentary, according to a news release from Defend the Honor, the lead organization in the protest.

In the July 1 edition of USA Weekend, Burns wrote of his documentary, “We interviewed more than 500 people. Veterans spoke of leaving home for the first time and arriving on the front line of battle. Of facing and somehow beating death. Many broke down in the middle of our conversation. They would tell their stories, and it was clearly for the first time — a catharsis they had denied themselves.”

The series includes 40 of those interviews, Burns wrote.

Critics do not think Burns went far enough to include the experiences of Hispanic soldiers, sailors and Marines in his exhaustive seven-part documentary.

Castillo said the contribution Hispanic-Americans made during World War II was significant even though Hispanics accounted for barely 1 percent of the general population at the time.

He pointed to the number of Hispanics who earned the highest military distinction, the Medal of Honor.

Of the 3,400 Medal of Honor recipients since 1861 when the medal was introduced, 39 are Hispanic or Latinos, according to the U.S. Army’s Web site.

Of the 464 Medal of Honor recipients in World War II, 12 were Hispanic, according to the American GI Forum, a Hispanic veterans’ advocacy group.

“We’re Americans, too,” Castillo said.

>> Staff Writer Jonathan Athens can be reached at 344-1221 or jathens@ivpressonline.com

For related links, visit:

Kens Burns: http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/