Carlos Guerra: Family appreciates Tío Beto’s sacrifice, even if filmmaker doesn’t

“How can I forget the sepia-toned photo of the dashing Beto in uniform? Or the 8-by-10 of his coffin in the Ramones’ tiny house because in Robstown, like other South Texas towns, no funeral parlors would host viewings for fallen heroes like Beto?

Once, when a parade’s color guard carried Old Glory along our street, my grandfather doffed his hat and told me that even if he, personally, never established his own citizenship, we should never forget the sacrifices of his Beto and those like him because they were made for all Americans, even those who, at the time, wouldn’t allow us into so many places.

But such stories didn’t find a place in Ken Burns’ 15-hour series “The War,” scheduled to premiere Sunday. Even if World War II completely changed the status of Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans and Cuban Americans in U.S. society ”” and more importantly, changed how America deals with them ”” Latino soldiers didn’t matter to Burns, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting or the Public Broadcasting System, any more than Latino musicians or baseball players mattered in Burns’ “Jazz” and “Baseball” documentaries.”

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