Vietnam Veterano
1983 · Cuervo S-1001 · Fresno, California
- Artist
- Al Reyes
- Title
- Vietnam Veterano
- Release
- California Corazón
- Year
- 1983
- Label
- Cuervo # S-1001
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- Fresno, California, USA
- Songwriter
- Al Reyes
- Genre
- Folk · Contemporary Folk · Chicano
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
Mexican-American artist Al Reyes, based in California, USA, released the post-war song "Vietnam Veterano" (Cuervo Records # S-1001). This song also featured on the 2005 Smithsonian compilation Rolas de Aztlán: Songs of the Chicano Movement, listed below. (1) (2) (3) The song deals with a common post-war issue found in 80s song, the mistreatment of the Vietnam veteran. But this song focuses on the additional element - Mexican-Americans facing racism back home in the US, despite fighting for their country. The song began with a combat description "on a beach in Da Nang...through jungles, steamy hot". The soldier said that "Chicanos fought and Chicanos died". Back in the US, on the streets of Los Angeles, the Mexican-American veterans "found out they didn’t care". The narrator recalled that Mexican-Americans had fought for the US in World War Two. It also contained a reference to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): "the scars are still on you, do you still hear the helicopter sound?", continuing the 1980s trend of portraying veterans / soldiers as suffering from PTSD.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings compilation (# SFW40516) of political songs, which also contained the track "Vietnam Veterano" by Al Reyes, discussed above. (1) (2) (3)
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
Chicano folk singer whose eight-minute 'Vietnam Veterano', built around interview excerpts with a Chicano Vietnam veteran, closed his 1983 LP 'California Corazon' (Cuervo Records) and was anthologized on Smithsonian Folkways' 'Rolas de Aztlan: Songs of the Chicano Movement' (2005), which describes him as a musician and award-winning journalist. [Source: Smithsonian Folkways; Discogs]