The Garden City Telegram
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Film gives Hispanic vets a voice
Published 11/10/2007 in News : Area coverage By Lisa Lucero
For Michael Guadian, it was a chance to share his war stories that have been buried for so many years.
Lyall Ford and Joaquin Sumaya are just glad they could give him that chance.
Guadian, 88, of Garden City, is one of 28 Hispanic veterans from Kansas who are featured in the new documentary film "Kansas Hispanic Veterans Remembered."
The one-hour-and-15 minute documentary is scheduled to air at 10 p.m. Nov. 18 on KPTS-PBS television in Wichita. Ford and Sumaya, both of Topeka but originally from Garden City, produced the film.
Sumaya was inspired to do the documentary after watching a Memorial Day program. He noticed none of the veterans who were interviewed were Hispanic.
He told Ford about it, and the together the two set out give a voice to the many Hispanic veterans who had war stories to share.
While he was an employee at The Kansas Hispanic and Latino American Affairs Commission and a member of the American GI Forum, Sumaya was able to connect with many Hispanic veterans.
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'Laurie Sisk/TelegramWWII veteran Mike Gaudian stands near a patriotic ribbon that adorns the front door of his Garden City home.'
He was awarded a grant from the Kansas Arts Commission to help fund the filming of the documentary.
"I have always had curiousity for their stories," he said.
His mother helped him set up interviews with Hispanic veterans from Garden City, Topeka and the Kansas City area.
One of Sumaya's favorite interviews was with Guadian, because he showed him a pin that he had taken off a dead German gunman's uniform.
"To carry something that evil in your hand is so surreal," Sumaya said.
That's one of Guadian's favorite stories from the war.
Guadian unpinned a military medal with a swastika engraved on it from the dead German soldier, and chose to save it as a souvenir to share with friends and family.
"Everybody was doing it," he said. "It was something to remember the war by."
Guadian said he and some of his friends volunteered to be in the Army because they thought it would be an honor to serve their country.
"We got together and volunteered. We never saw each other again," he said. "A couple of my friends were killed and some were stationed in Japan."
Guadian has vivid memories of the war even to this day.
He remembers the bombing of Dresden, Germany, in February 1945, and the piles of animal and human bones scattered around the area after the massive bombing attack.
His duty was to protect the U.S. combat soldiers on the ground by shooting machine guns at the enemy. He remembers the sensation of feeling the ground shake and hearing the explosions and gun shots all around him.
In addition to the stories of the fighting, Sumaya also enjoyed hearing the veterans share their love stories.
Guadian and his wife, Felisa, remember fondly the love letters they would send back and forth to each other.
Sumaya said he enjoyed working on the film because he was able to capture many of the soldiers' stories.
Ford said they interviewed soldiers from every war from World War II to the current war in Iraq. The interviewing process took about five months, with editing taking another six months to complete.
"Not everyone that are veterans can tell their stories. It would be nice to have their stories documented," he said.
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