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Korean, Vietnam war vets added to Latino history project

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Nov. 11, 2010 - Fresh out of high school and motivated by pride and service to country, Paz Peña joined the Marines and went to war in Vietnam in 1965. The things he saw and experienced there only strengthened his pride.

"So many sacrificed their lives, and many of my friends had been wounded. I wanted that their efforts would not go in vain," said Peña, 66, who grew up in the South Texas town of Mathis (population 6,000) and is now a political science professor at Austin Community College.

But Peña returned to a country that had begun to question its involvement in Vietnam, and so did he. A turning point came when he learned his brother had been injured in the war.

Peña recounted those experiences to researchers with the U.S. Latino & Latina World War II Oral History Project, which expanded its work a year ago to include the Korean and Vietnam war eras. {read rest}