When the young Chicanos who fought valiantly in World War II returned home, many did not return to the high schools they had left to go fight for their country. By then, they felt they were too old.

But they made sure their children finished school and exceled, says Arnulfo Hernández Jr., a co-author of "The Men of Company E: Toughest Chicano Soldiers of World War II."

The new book tells the largely untold story of the El Paso, Texas-based Company E, of the 141st U.S. Army Infantry Division, 2nd Batallion, 36th Division, whose highly decorated soldiers helped to liberate Rome from the Nazis in 1944. Company E was the only U.S. Army company comprised entirely of Chicanos during the war.

These soldiers were heroic on the battlefields abroad, Hernández said, but they may have left their most lasting imprint back in their homeland by forging a path for their children and for subsequent generations.

Company E members like Abner Carrasco, who died in 2014, had children who became lawyers and corporate executives. Because soldiers like Carrasco would no longer accept the status quo - the second-class citizenship Mexican Americans had endured for so long - they made it possible for future generations to become successful and to grab a piece of the American dream, Hernández told NBC News.

"These are the giants on whose shoulders we of the Boomer and subsequent generations stand, and we don't recognize that," Hernández said.

A Sacramento, Calif.-based attorney and a Navy veteran during the Vietnam era, Hernández spoke to NBC about his reasons for writing the book, primarily the fact that recent popular books and documentaries on the "Greatest Generation's" duty, honor and love of their country were about "us" but largely ignored Company E.

"It was a slap in our face," says Hernández, who thinks it's paramount to keep Mexican American history alive. Below is a condensed interview.

NBC News: What led you to write this book (with co-author Samuel S. Ortega)?

Hernández: It's a history that you do not hear or see in our history books. It's a history that's not in the textbooks for our kids to know about.

NBC News: I've heard you say you feel a sense of moral obligation to tell the story of these young men. What do you mean by that?

Hernández: I am a Mexican American. I know no other country except this one. I know they made it possible for me to finish high school, go to college and to become a member of the California State Bar. I feel an obligation now that I'm at the end of my career to be able to convey that we owe so much to these men.

NBC: Who were these young men of Company E?

Hernandez: Eighty-five members of that company were from Bowie High School (in El Paso), where I would later graduate from. They were from the southeast barrios, from the poorest parts of El Paso. They grew up during the Depression, and many of them dropped out of high school to help the family out financially.

They were just like young kids are today. Traviesos. (Mischievous) They were happy-go-lucky guys. They were unafraid of death in war. What made them special was that they were so patriotic and there were no acts of cowardice in this group. Their motto was "Los de la Tres, no se rajan." (We with Company E don't back down.)

In our research for the book, we came across the writings of a lieutenant with the 36th division, who said, "My Mexicans are not afraid of the devil. I saw one stand his ground with his automatic rifle until he was blown away by a tank."

NBC: What do you hope to accomplish with this book?

Hernandez: We hope that as the story unfolds that people begin to appreciate their story, and we hope we can inspire the younger folks, the new writers to look into their history. We hope we can be an at least an instrument where young folks not only can feel the pride in their heritage, but want to explore it.

NBC: How important is it to tell these stories about Mexican American history?

Hernandez: If we don't tell our story, no one else will … Chicano history is American history. Without the participation of Chicanos, American history is incomplete.

The message is important to convey: We have much to be proud of. The Mexican American answered the call of duty. They pushed aside the racism they were subjected to at home to go abroad and defeat the greatest racist the world has ever known. When they came back, they said, "We're not going to put up with this stuff anymore."

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 NEXT STORY Latinos Outraged By 'Anchor Baby' Term, See It As Offensive

 

 

Any GOP hope that time would ease the sting many Latinos felt when Donald Trump opened his campaign by deriding Mexicans may have been quashed by Jeb Bush and his use of the term "anchor babies," which drew swift criticism from many in the community.

The phrase is used to describe American citizens who are children of parents not born in the U.S. It has been used to describe both children whose parents are not legally here and those of legal immigrants.

Bush's use of the phrase, which predates the campaign and is used regularly by lawmakers on Capitol Hill, set off a firestorm and questions of whether the term is derogatory.

 

Trump has used the term as well, giving more fodder to Democrats.

"From the depths of my heart, I look at someone like Jeb Bush, who really should know better and that all I can think of is the Spanish term, sinvergüenza, which means somebody who is completely without shame to attack children this way," said Rep. Linda Sanchez, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Sanchez, the daughter of immigrants from Mexico, pointed out that her parents had seven children in the U.S., including two who are serving in the U.S. Congress and are "law abiding and tax paying."

Like other children born in the U.S. to immigrant parents, "I'm a citizen of the United States. Does that make me an anchor baby?" asked Sanchez, D-Calif.

The term has been used before on Capitol Hill and in media. But it comes as the Latino population is rapidly growing and showing up in enough numbers at the ballot box, particularly in key battleground states, to have ramifications on whether Hispanics are being taken seriously and treated respectfully.

It also is resonating in a community that is predominantly Mexican American, with many members of that community not that far removed from decades when they or their parents or grandparents were not treated equally - even though many were U.S. citizens. Even today, many U.S.-born Latinos are told to go back to their country or must assert that they have deep roots in this country.

Bush, whose wife is from Mexico and has children who were born here, said he didn't regret using the term on a radio show. He explained that he didn't use it as his own language, but said "it's commonly referred to that."

"Do you have a better term? You give me a better term and I'll use it," he said when asked if the term was bombastic. When it was suggested he say children of undocumented immigrants, he said that was too many words.

Trump who was questioned about using the term at a town hall had a similar response, when asked if knew the term is offensive. "You mean politically correct and everybody uses it," Trump said and then asked for another term.

He didn't want to use the longer description of American-born children of undocumented immigrants.

 

Ian Haney Lopez, an expert on racial rhetoric and politics in the U.S., said the debate has juxtaposed the noble and ignoble.

"Children are widely seen as innocent and pure … yet there is an unspoken racial element there, for children of color are all too often pictured as criminals or welfare cheats in training," said Haney Lopez, author of "Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked The Middle Class."

Dog whistle is a term used to describe coded language that means one thing in general but has an additional meaning for a targeted population.

The racializing of children of color is "the ignoble tradition that finds voice in the phrase 'anchor babies,' which tarnishes even the tiniest infant with the stain of being one of 'them,' the dark and dangerous who invade our society," Haney Lopez said.

He said the "dog whistle" term operates as code "to stimulate fear about changing racial demographics," which politicians like Trump are stoking as his supporters consider turning over leadership of the country to a plutocrat.

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