On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam examines the Latino experience during a war that placed its heaviest burden on working class youth. Framing the documentary are memoirs of two siblings, Everett and Delia Alvarez, who stood on opposite sides of the Vietnam War, one as a POW and the other protesting at home. Other stories deepen the narrative: in Greenlee County, Arizona, miners’ children fought and died for their country in devastating proportions. Sisters and mothers took notice and action. A farmworker’s son translated his military experience into a career before resigning in protest from his post on a local draft board.
On Two Fronts raises issues that remain relevant today. In communities where there were few alternatives to service, war impacted every household — especially amongst Latinos. How did this affect the young men who served on the front lines? How did it impact their communities? During the Vietnam War Latinos began asking for the first time, What is the true cost of war and the appropriate price of citizenship?
Filmed on location throughout the Southwest and in Vietnam On Two Fronts combines lush photography with home movies, vivid news footage and a trove of personal photograph, with specially composed music by Chicano Batman.
This program, produced by Souvenir Pictures Inc, is a presentation of Oregon Public Broadcasting in association with Latino Public Broadcasting, with major funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
