European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 3, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse May 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 13 opinion a living not just a Musty memory by Donald Kirk Washington the As we used to Call world War comes Back in a blur of child Hood memories Lowell Thomas on the War maps on front cheering Over the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with no notion of the tragedies on the More cheering Over the japanese surren the first photos of skeletal survivors of the concentration by the time i got to Vietnam two decades the War seemed like ancient remembered Only by a few names the Day on the beaches of nor the Okinawa of iwo immortalized in the Flag raising of there had also been but no one thought about Korea the Chosun the Pusan the Inchon pork chop Hill and the punch bowl they were hardly in our his tory Korea was truly the forgotten almost a a Mere crisis Between bigger so its a thinking Over these Days in the history of our american to realize How clearly we remember that in my since i was saw the big red one the 1st infantry division setting up tents along the Highway North of saw the marines on patrols South and West of a the helicopters from the 1st air cavalry division in the Central saw the bodies of the dead in Hue and Khe Sanh and so Many other and remember the faces of journalists who now i find it hard to realize these so clearly etched in my Are from nearly 40 years twice the time from world War ii to visiting the Vietnam veterans memorial with All the some still listed As i realize in not the Only one to whom that particular a secondary catastrophe compared to world War remains a living not just a Musty memo its been 25 years since i first visited the Days after it first went up along a Walkway from the Lincoln i remember then seeing a Gray haired couple scrutinizing the were they looking for that of a son or some one else they the son of a Friend their faces were More Seri Ous than there was no telling their certainly i was not going to in this i visited with one of my own a College it was the third or fourth time id been seeing a lot of veterans on i had left not wanting to get caught William new comb of new is comforted by his in the Back in new i saw by by and i would talk about his son and it years after Joes death h s div up in their Macho that was a period when i ran regularly into men who say they been in Viet Nam and Tell me about places and units and Battles that i knew had never and then there were a lot of others who were there but like 80 percent of All those who served in never experienced any this on a the crowds were As if at a religious a few people at either end of the Wall looked up names in White the size of phone listing every name Al telling where they could find the inscribed in the order in which their bearers had i had one name in mind there he 1 it a first lieutenant in the born 10 Jan died 18 sep from new York As a reporter years earlier in new i had known his a Hyman proud to have risen to the rank of major in world War by had told me when his son was rejected for West Point but accepted in a Reserve officers training program at Penn state and when his son had graduated and had gone to wound up in cover ing the tet offensive in february then the Spring and septem Ber i had meant to look up his leading a platoon some where in i in the Mountain Ous Northern but the next Days Story always seemed More then came the terrible i cant re member exactly How by put but his note was As they the meaning of stand at the the which Vietnam Veter we never sorted ans memorial out in Washington one Dav 24 on veterans Day Uay by stars and stripes had Leav ing his wife and i drove up to the funeral in a synagogue in then joined the procession to the burial and lunch afterwards in their apart crowded with friends and we talked a Little about no one sure How much or what to so my son and i looked up Joes the first on line 25 on panel Joseph s first name no period after the people glanced at giving us maybe thinking we were looking up a again i won dered Why i haunt bothered to find Joe when we were both in Viet up and Down the others also looked for americas longest in Days and months and remains its worst Trage at least in living Donald an occasional is a longtime foreign correspondent and this column first appeared in the Providence Wei by Marisella Veiga Maggie Rivas Rodriguez seems comfortable at the Helm of an elite group of latino leaders she has rallied in the spreading nationwide protest against Ken Burns documentary on world War the television series is scheduled to air on pcs during hispanic heritage month this sep while Africa american and Japa nes american contributions Are portrayed alongside Whites in the seven part series the Burns has totally neglected the hispanic As Many As half a Mil lion latinos and including Maggie served in the military during that the historical oversight and Burns Refus Al to re edit his series Doest sit Well with Rivas her life experience has committed her to build a hispanic world War ii her vow has not fallen prey to the discouragement or disenchantment that tripped Many latinas i her mag Gies parents taught her Early to stand up for her heritage her Rivas Rodriguez describes Ramon Martin Rivas and Henrietta Lopez Rivas As incredibly Cool the couple raised six girls and one Maggie was number her she was a big women to their my parents supported education All the even though it was not their she they encouraged Maggie move from their Hometown of a Community of to the state capital 113 Miles to pursue a bachelors degree at the University of on a Campus bulletin Board she saw an and calling for a radio program she an swered it and at one Point found herself Host ing three programs she loved so she began reporting for the Campus newspaper As in she went on to pick up a masters degree from new Yorks Columbia University graduate school of Maggie was a Young reporter working on an article for the Dallas morning news when she first noticed the void of information available about latinos and latinas in she was among advocates who in 1982 Cre ated the National association of hispanic winning election to its frustrated by the Industry failure to encourage hispanic students to explore journalism she inaugurated and devel oped such nah projects As High school essay which spread to 14 cities at their and student written newspapers providing daily coverage at National journal ism a major change occurred in Maggie life 13 years at age she married Gil Rod a Public school teacher she describes As a full she became pregnant and took a year off from search ing for ways to balance career and new Fame she accepted a journalists residence position at the University of Al teaching agreed with next Stop Chapel where she earned a doctor ate in 1998 from the University of North that the Rivas Rodriguez family dad and two growing sons returned to Texas where Maggie joined the journalism faculty at it there she established the latino and Latina Wii Oral history she and her staff have filmed and written some 550 some of those who she edited two books on the subject that she first encountered As a Young reporter mexican americans and world War ii 2005 and a legacy greater than words stories of latinos and latinas of the Wii generation convinced that their contributions de serve a prominent place in the Saga of this nations vigorous responses to communism and other external she has offered to share her resource materials with we should never have to forsake who we Are in order to Rivas Rodriguez repeating Wisdom she Learned from her if Burns and the network continue to deny the latino Community full representation in their world War ii it will have to contend with a formidable Latina foe whose strength belies her five foot Marisella Veiga of is a contributing columnist with hispanic link news prickly City by Scott Stantis although listening to it m be Tow once in
