They Died Trying To Become Students

With the U.S. assault on Iraq moving from the invasion to the occupation phase and the saber rattling continuing to echo out of Pentagon, it is time to reflect on where the Latino community in the United States finds itself within the larger context of the New World Order.

Like many working class youth, Latinos and Latinas who buy into the vision of military service as a short cut to college or job training are simply looking for a way to grab a piece of the American Dream. But the reality of that Dream continues to be relatively distant for the Chicano/Mexicano community. Alternatives to military service available to Mexicano youth are significantly fewer than for other groups. Until this fact is understood, the fundamental injustice of Mexican and Chicano youth dying to "liberate" Iraq (or any other developing nation) cannot be fully grasped.

One of the more remarked upon facts during the early days of the war was the number of Spanish-surnamed soldiers and marines killed or missing in action. The sense that Latino communities were disproportionately sacrificing their youth once again, as they had in Vietnam, was widespread. Media outlets began to comment on the fact that Latinos in the military are over represented in combat and supply units (especially in the Army and Marines) and thus more likely to see hazardous duty.

The American public learned that thousands of non-citizens were now in the U.S. military (approximately 3 percent of enlisted personnel, a third of whom are from Latin America). The Bush administration had established a fast track naturalization process for foreign recruits in July 2002 as part of the "war on terror." Instead of waiting three years before applying for citizenship, green-card holders in the armed forces who entered after September 11, 2001 could apply immediately for citizenship. Such offers are often granted in limited form during periods of "military hostilities" (This week John McCain, Ted Kennedy, and eight other senators introduced a bill that would reduce permanently the waiting period from three to two years and provide benefits for non-citizen spouses of non-citizen soldiers killed in action.)

Although the Bush Executive Order contained no guarantees that citizen status would be granted or even expedited, the rumor that automatic citizenship was being granted for military service began to circulate in Latino communities both here and abroad. The number of permanent resident enlistees jumped from 300 a month before the fast track reform to 1,300 a month. Mexican nationals reportedly flooded consulates attempting to volunteer.

Both citizen and non-citizen recruits most often enlist as a way to get an education, seduced by the recruiters' promise of technical training or money for college contingent upon an honorable discharge. For the permanent residents who found themselves in Iraq, their circuitous path to college carried them from Latin America to the U.S. to Baghdad, al-Nasiriyah, and Mosul. Some of them will not be attending classes as they and their families had hoped. Instead they died in the line of duty and subsequently received posthumous citizenship amidst much fanfare and flag-waving.

Many in Latino communities, including some parents of the fallen soldiers, sought refuge in traditional patriotic sentiments. The father of colombiano Diego Rincón, an Army private killed in a suicide bombing, was quoted as saying "The only thing that keeps me going now is to make sure that he's buried as an American. That will be my dream come true." . Writing on the LatinoLA website about the death of Guatemalan national José Gutiérrez, Gil Contreras wrapped himself in the flag, "honor," and "Semper Fi" before criticizing Chicano and Chicana antiwar protestors for complaining too much. The subtitle of Contreras's article made the cynical assertion that Latino casualties proved that "Latinos can be more than gang members & criminals." Not unlike assimilationists from earlier periods, Contreras apparently prefers dead heroes to living and productive citizens.