Tony Lopez tells stories of heroism, bravery and miracles – he even recounts “honest-to-God” ghost stories – from his service in the Pacific during World War II.
Joseph Montour, who shares similar tales, served in Europe, including the bloody Battle of the Bulge.
But for years after the war, neither man talked about what he witnessed and did – but not out of shame or fear. They just figured what they saw was so sensational that no one would believe them.
Count the stories of Lopez and Montour among the experiences of Latinos that originally had been omitted from Ken Burns’ sweeping PBS documentary “The War,” which riled Latino and veterans organizations.
Burns eventually added 30 minutes of footage featuring Latinos to his 15-hour documentary. That sparked an idea for local Emmy Award-winning PBS producer Lisa Olken.
Fresh off the second installment of her documentary “La Raza de Colorado,” Olken began making calls to veterans groups hoping to cast a local spotlight on the roles of Latinos, blacks and women in WWII.
“We heard there were going to be boycotts of PBS stations all over the country, so I waited several weeks to call the American GI forum, and I was scared about how I would be received,” Olken said.
Olken’s “Colorado War Stories,” which includes interviews with Lopez and Montour, premieres Sunday night on KRMA-Channel 6.
“Their contribution is similar to every other man’s and every other woman’s,” she said. “I went in thinking that it was probably harder for some to fight in a war when they were already being discriminated against at home, but none of the people I interviewed ever said anything like that.
“One of the things that did surprise me, and I inevitably had to take a different approach than what I expected, was that, of the Latinos I spoke with, nobody felt discriminated against during their service in the war. They certainly were before they went into the service and when they came home.”
It took years for Lopez, an Army paratrooper, and Montour, who manned anti-aircraft guns on an armored vehicle, to share their stories.
Both men have watched segments of Burns’ documentary, which aired in September, but they had different reactions.
“It didn’t really bother me that much,” said Lopez, 83, of Denver. “That guy (Burns) should have included some Hispanics … (but) I don’t feel that it was out of discrimination.”
Now he speaks openly, letting emotions and tears flow, when he goes over pictures from the war. A favorite shows him with other paratroopers – with a ghostly apparition of a fellow GI behind them. That soldier, Lopez swears to this day, was killed weeks before the photo was taken.
For his part, Montour was upset by the initial exclusion of Latinos in Burns’ film. “I think people should know we went over there and we did the same thing as everyone else, and we were just as good as any other American soldier,” said Montour, 82, of Pueblo. “We still are, but I think there are still some people who don’t see it that way.”
Manny Gonzales: 303-954-1537 or mgonzales@denverpost.com
