The MAMF September 2025 Facebook Banner

September is Hispanic American Heritage Month. MAMF celebrates the contributions of our Hispanic American citizens and military service members.

This month’s banner features a group of Mexican-American Marines serving in Vietnam in 1970-1972, and some Latino children attempting to break open a piñata at a fiesta in California in 1961. The banner celebrates both our Hispanic American children (BRATs) and Hispanic Americans serving in the military.

Both photos came from Wikimedia and are used under the Creative Commons 2.0 license.

The photographer of the photo of the Marines is unknown but it came from the USMC Archives from Quantico, USA. We are fortunate enough to know who some of the men in the photo are. According to the information posted with the Wikimedia photo:

“Marines of Mexican heritage pose in front of a building at Landing Zone Baldy during the Vietnam War. Pictured from left to right are, Red Garcia; Joe (a truck driver from Tucson); Chino; Tony “Tramp” Castillo; Jose; and Efrain Hinojosa. According to Red Garcia, company cook, Efrain Hinojosa, would look out for his buddies, occasionally providing them with extra helpings during meals.”

The photo of the children is less specific:

“A girl strikes a pinata in the carport of a California home while other children wait their turn.”

What I love about these photos is that they remind us of the major contributions that Hispanic Americans have made to our society and culture, and also that they have poured just as much blood, sweat, and tears into our country as any other ethnic demographic in the nation. I would love to know what happened to the men in this photo, and whether they made it home safely from Vietnam. I would also love to know who the children in the photo grew up to be, and what they accomplished.

This month, be sure to spend some time reflecting on the many ways that Hispanic Americans have contributed to our American culture. Their art, music, food, literature, and so many other expressions of culture have become inseparable from what we experience as American culture.

Please follow and like us: