Burns will add Latinos to war series
Documentary maker Ken Burns said Thursday he will edit his upcoming PBS series about World War II to add stories about Latino soldiers after protests that they had been excluded.
A day after meeting with Latino advocacy groups, Burns said he had collected interviews with Latino veterans that he considered powerful and would incorporate them, along with the veterans’ personal documents.
“The War,” a 14-hour series, is scheduled to air in September.
“The role of Hispanic American veterans in WWII is one that lends itself to the universality of this film and merits being included in my film,” Burns said in a statement. “It is adding another layer of storytelling that will only enrich what we already have.”
Burns initially resisted changes to the completed documentary. Last month, after protests by Latino groups, Burns brought aboard a Latino documentarian, Hector Galan, and said he would fold in stories of Latino veterans during breaks in the series or after the end of an installment.
Latino groups said that amounted to treating Latino veterans as an afterthought.
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