Families on the Front Lines: The Gomezes

I talked to the recruiter. I still talk to that recruiter today. I talked to my grandfather Gumersindo. I talked to my grandmother Eva. As much as I loved Springfield, I said, “That’s it. I’m joining.” I was scared to leave Springfield and my family, but nothing about serving in the Army scared me. For me, it’s been a good decision. 

On race and pride in the military

Gumersindo: We were color-blind while we were in combat in Vietnam. In the field everybody covered everybody. Once we got back to the States, we segregated ourselves. Blacks had their place; Hispanics had their place; Caucasians had their place. 

Giovanni: Growing up in the 1970s, all I knew was the Army. As a kid, because of my father’s job as a drill sergeant, I lived on Army bases and went to Army schools. Army life is a society within a society. As a child, I did not encounter prejudice. You have no choice who your neighbor is. It’s whoever the Army assigns. If Koreans are assigned, then your neighbors are Korean. If blacks are assigned, then your neighbors are black. You all go to school together. You depend on one another. Your dads work together. You get to be friends with everybody. But then when I was 13, my parents got divorced — Eva is my stepmother — and I moved to Georgia with my mother. That was the first time I experienced prejudice. I’ll never forget sitting in class and the kid next to me says, “What are you, black or white?” I said, “I’m Puerto Rican.” He said, “No, you’re black or white. And you ain’t white.” It blew my mind because, in Army society, everyone was equal.  

Tyler: Today, in the Army, you’re taught to respect everybody. So they don’t really want you to speak Spanish when you’re working. It’s better for everybody to speak one language, English. It’s all a brotherhood. Everybody looks at each other the same. I have brothers from every race. It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t see color. 

A lot of people don’t know about Puerto Rican history in the Army. Some people don’t even know that Puerto Rico is part of the United States. For me, there’s a lot of pride because my grandfather taught me about Puerto Rican soldiers and what they’ve done for the American military.

Giovanni: Puerto Ricans have fought in every major modern American conflict. 

Paying it forward

Gumersindo: When I retired from the Army, in 1986, I started volunteering at a veterans center. I talked to veterans about post- tramautic  stress disorder, PTSD — which I had, too — and noticed that many Hispanic vets did not speak English well, and that made their problems worse. A group of veterans and I opened three bilingual centers in Massachusetts in 1987 that we called the Puerto Rican Veterans Association [later renamed the Bilingual Veterans Outreach Centers of Massachusetts]. 

I have been working to help my fellow veterans ever since. I don’t want to retire. I have brothers and sisters who need my help.