Latino Voices

‘Our Soldiers, Our Lady of Guadalupe’ Documentary Premieres on WTTW


‘Our Soldiers, Our Lady of Guadalupe’ Documentary Premieres on WTTW

The brutal toll of war on a generation of young men and their families is the subject of the latest episode of WTTW’s documentary series, “Chicago Stories.” Through firsthand accounts and archive footage, “Our Soldiers, Our Lady of Guadalupe” examines a community in turmoil as Chicago’s first and oldest Mexican American parish lost 12 young men in the Vietnam War in a five-year span.

Producer Edgar Vargas was raised in South Chicago, where Our Lady of Guadalupe stands. He says even 50 years later, the stories of the young men lost to war, as well as those of those men who made it back home, continue to echo today.

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“What I wasn’t ready for is that not many of the men who I contacted, whether they made the documentary or not, had talked about their experience,” Vargas said. “I said, ‘wow, it’s been 50 years, you haven’t talked about it?’ And no, because they went right back to work, they went to do what they had to do.”

“If we don’t tell this story now — especially during the pandemic, we lost many of them — we’re not going to get to tell this story by the people who lived it, and I think that’s what makes this story great.”

“Our Soldiers, Our Lady of Guadalupe” has airings on WTTW and WTTW Prime throughout the month of May. See more online at WTTW: Chicago Stories.  


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