The Great War had just ended. The U.S military has recently returned to America.

Jose de la Luz
Saenz is enjoying the beautiful sights of Louisiana and Mississippi. They are being fed by the Red Cross;
the most prominent non-profit organizations tasked with helping the U.S. in times of emergencies. While
on the train they come across a newspaper. One of the articles in it described a recent battle that the U.S.
fought with Mexico. This stirred up a rumor. People on the train questioned if the U.S. was going to war
with Mexico.
In this diary submission, Jose is posed with a difficult decision. He has to decide whether he
wants to stay with the U.S. military and fight against his homeland. Jose, who is a man of Mexican origin,
asks a Mexican friend what he thinks about going to war with Mexico. His friend calms his fears,
responding that they do not have a choice, it is their duty. This response is deemed “humble” by Jose.
Truly, the comment lives up to that characteristic. It is similar to the Allies fighting against the German
colonies in Africa.1 While the colonies and most of their inhabitants are not German, they are still
defending the German cause.
Throughout this war, many adversities were overcome. For instance, the United States was still
very young. The mixing of races into the melting pot was just beginning. This led to a clash of cultures.
Many believe that the Mexican American was less sophisticated than the German American for instance.
This is because as a general rule, Mexicans were less educated than the Germans at that time. The
European migrants looked down upon the South Americans as lesser beings. The first World War brought
into question the patriotism of the German American. It tested to see if they would fight for the U.S.
against an oppressor which was their homeland. Later, Mexican Americans went through the same test.
The beginning of which is shown in this diary excerpt. It showed a similar struggle which both cultures
had to face: fighting in a war against their motherland.

Word Count: 371

HR: None

1
Bentley, Jerry, Streets, Heather, and Herbert Ziegler, Traditions & Encounters: A Brief Global History (McGraw-
Hill Education, 2015), 572.