Vietnam Veterano

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.123 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.Sources1Smithsonian Folkways: American folk latin↩2media.smithsonianfolkways.org: Smithsonian folkways↩3Smithsonian Folkways: Rolas de Aztlán, Songs of the Chicano Movement (SFW40516)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Annotation — Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs

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.123 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. Sources1Smithsonian Folkways: American folk latin↩2media.smithsonianfolkways.org: Smithsonian folkways↩3Smithsonian Folkways: Rolas de Aztlán, Songs of the Chicano Movement (SFW40516)↩

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.123Sources1Smithsonian Folkways: American folk latin↩2media.smithsonianfolkways.org: Smithsonian folkways↩3Smithsonian Folkways: Rolas de Aztlán, Songs of the Chicano Movement (SFW40516)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: You found yourself on a beach in Da Nang / With dudes from Tejas, corridos you sang / To get your mind on another patrol / Get your 16 ready, its time to go / You crawled through jungles, steamy-hot / You saw vatos your age get shot / Heard the cries / Saw them die there / You’ve come home with ugly nightmares, qué loco / Vietnam Veterano / Gonzales, Torres, y Lescano / On the frontlines, again / Los chicanos / Martínez, García y Lujano, in Chu Lai / You were fighting away with the raza on the streets in L.A / They say this country ships us all off to fight / To return and deny us our rights / So Chicanos fought and Chicanos died / Spirits of Aztec warriors at their sides / Fight fiercely, what else could we do? / Just like we did in World War II / Qué loco, Vietnam veterano, José, Luis y Chano /On the frontlines, again / Los chicanos Martínez, García y Lujano, you soon found out they didn’t care about what you went through over there / Don’t ask, because not much you’ll get / This war is one they’d rather forget / Qué loco, Vietnam veterano / The scars are still on you, do you still hear the helicopter sound? / Don’t let them put you down

Notes

Cuervo Records, Fresno, California, "California Corazón (Heart): Songs from the San Joaquin Valley", white label, with a lyric inner sleeve; Side B track 3: "Vietnam Veterano", "to all those who were 'over there' and their families". All compositions by Al Reyes; produced by Al Reyes and Tony Manjarrez, musical direction by Tony Manjarrez. [From the record sleeve and labels]

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. Reyes did not serve in Vietnam himself; the song carries the recorded voice of a veteran. [Source: Smithsonian Folkways; Discogs]

Themes

Vet · Military · WW2

In collections

Mexican-American / Hispanic Songs · US Military & Veteran Songs