Marching to a Latin beat in ‘Concert for the Troops’
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During several of America’s 20th century wars, the sight of Bob Hope rallying U.S. troops became practically as familiar a symbol of the military as Old Glory flapping in the breeze. Today, U.S. men and women of a new generation serving under arms, many of them Latinos, are being regaled by performers named Frankie J, Baby Bash and Paula DeAnda, some of whom are as likely to be singing and joking in Spanish as in English.
For the last few years, the growing presence of Latinos in the U.S. military has become a focus of Universal City-based mun2 (pronounced moon-dose), a lifestyle cable network targeted at bilingual Latinos ages 18 to 34. A mun2 news special, “For My Country: Latinos in the Military,” which investigated the patriotic, as well as some of the harsh socio-economic, reasons why many young Latinos choose military service, won a Peabody Award in 2007.
This week, mun2 is continuing its examination of how Latinos are affecting U.S. military culture and vice versa by airing “Concert for the Troops,” which airs at 6 p.m. today. The concert was staged live before an invited audience of U.S. Army troops, both Latinos and non-Latinos, a number of whom have done tours of combat duty, as well as some of their spouses and significant others.
(Photo courtesy mun2)