Soldados: Chicanos in Viet Nam

by Charley Trujillo (editor)

1991 American Book Award winning narratives

Genres: Nonfiction, History

187 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1990

Reviews

[Miguel Cordova · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book I have had on my shelf for some amount of time. I hadn't really picked it up until now. It was an interesting book by Charley Trujillo who struggled to get this book published, so he started his own publishing company. The book focused on Chicano Vietnam Vets, predominantly from the Central Valley. Their experience as they went from small farming communities and into the jungles of Vietnam. Some willingly, some without an idea of what options they had, some who didn't know what they were there for. Mostly all knew that it would be a possibility they didn't come back and most of their families fearing and praying for them back home. As you read, you see the divisions of the time. Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Blacks and the white soldiers. All coming from different backgrounds and sometimes getting along and sometimes not so much. You get a wide range of perspectives from this book. My version is 1990, but there is an updated book as well. Not sure that much in it is different.

[Agustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I think about this book is that it really shows the real people who went into the vietnam war and how horrific it was over there and that it was in fact not many white people but instead chicanos,puerto ricanos,and even colored people.But over all this is a real good book and I recommend this book to who wants to know more about the Vietnam War.

[Teddy :•] · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reads as almost bite sized political theory. It shows perspectives on the Vietnam War that we as Americans are not usually fed, as they don’t fall into “All-American” patriotic narratives. Incredible read

[Kirsten Cummins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating window into a rarely spoken-about experience

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charley Trujillo interviewed about a dozen Chicano-American Vietnam Veterans and placed their stories in this book. I used this book as part of my research for my dissertation because Trujillo left the interviews in tact and did only minor edits. Because Trujillo's editorial foot stamp is so light I was able to read the interviews in their entirety and get a sense of context and level of remembrance that you sometimes don't find when editors have cut and paste excerpts of interviews into thematic chapters.

Chicano-Americans were an important and understudied component of American fighting men during the Vietnam War and Trujillo has offered researchers a rare and impressive view of how these men experienced the war through the prism of race and class. Most men hailed from impoverished backgrounds as the sons of a migrant laborer and many saw the Army as a vehicle to socio-economic mobility. The war vexed many of these men and while some stayed as career soldiers man became embittered toward the Army and left after their initial enlistment or draft period. The interviews cover a range of topics: home life, boot camp, deployment, baptism of fire, race relations in various units, and the return home.

[LonewolfMX Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just read these book which depicts short stories about Chicano veterans experiences in Vietnam in which despite fighting an unpopular war, bonds of brotherhood would be formed across ethnic and racial lines in which many did not really fight for their country, but instead fought for each other.