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“On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam” is an illuminating documentary that examines the social and cultural circumstances that caused the American working class—and specifically the Latino community—to bear a disproportionate amount of the burden during the Vietnam War.

The documentary observes the complicated issues of inequality and the Latino fight for civil rights in the United States during the 1960s. The driving force behind these undercurrents was a re-awakening of the social status within the Latino community at home and abroad. This is presented in a multi-layered fashion, telling the stories of how individuals, communities and the nation as a whole was affected by the sacrifices endured during this time.

The cultural shift focuses on 1968. A new generation of Latinos began to question why there were so many barriers to equality at home, while they were over-represented in the Vietnam War. “On Two Fronts” presents examples of how the war affected Latinos individually, in the community and nationally.

The story of Salinas, California native Everett Alvarez, the first U.S. prisoner of war in Vietnam, and his sister Delia Alvarez, a strong advocate for the anti-war sentiment at home, shows the duality of this time period and how the war challenged the traditional patriotic ideals with the new ideals that prioritize social and racial equality.

The film examines how the education system funneled Latino students away from college and into the military. During Vietnam, the draft was in place to maintain the high demand of bodies needed to sustain the war. Young men were allowed to use the option of college deferment, but many in the Latino community realized that this was not a viable option, since they were funneled away from higher education. This underscored how the inequality at home furthered the inequality abroad.

Lastly, the film chronicles the lonely journey Vietnam veterans faced returning home. Due to the Vietnam War becoming vastly unpopular, returning veterans were confronted with yet another war. Once home, they were greeted by a nation that neglected their sacrifices and failed to fulfill the promises of assistance and resources to help veterans transition back to civilian life.

Director Myléne Moreno captures the humanity behind these personal stories with her use of original news footage and photographs from the mainstream narrative of the Vietnam War, as well as the personal accounts of Latino veterans and their families.

“On Two Fronts” frames the social structural factors that developed during the Vietnam War and exposes the various forms of inequality in education, labor and even geography. What makes this documentary transcendent is not only its multi-layered approach in telling the impact of individual sacrifices of Latinos at home and abroad, but how it identifies the cultural patterns every Latino generation faces in the United States. Although it focuses on the 1960s and the Vietnam War, we can clearly point to the identical struggles that the Latino community continues to face during the fight for equality, immigration and the issues our veterans face returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Luis Padilla is a San Francisco native and served in the Marine Corps for 6 years, which included a combat tour in Iraq from 2007 to 2008.