Documentary commemorates the service of Puerto Ricans in the Korean War
[In] recent months veterans of a once-storied Puerto Rican regiment, the 65th Infantry Regiment ... have gotten their due in a documentary called “The Borinqueneers,” which was first televised in New York over the summer and continues to be broadcast on public television nationally.
In a way, it is a passionate rejoinder to Ken Burns, whose World War II documentary drew sharp criticism from Latino and American Indian groups for initially ignoring their contributions during that war.
Noemi Figueroa Soulet, a New York actress who produced “The Borinqueneers,” understands why people were upset with Mr. Burns. But she set her sights on a different battle, in more ways than one.
“Why should we be begging Ken Burns for a few minutes in his series?” she said. “We have other guys we can cover ourselves. I really felt there was enough there to tell our story in a full program.”
The idea came to Ms. Figueroa Soulet in the late 1990s, after she saw the film “Saving Private Ryan” and around the time she learned that her husband’s uncle had been wounded in Korea.
“I started thinking, what about the Puerto Rican experience?” she said. “I would see a war movie or documentary and I would look for the Latino faces. I always want to see how we are represented. Historically, I knew we served in the military, but you wouldn’t know it.”
Though she had never made a documentary before, she set out to chronicle the Puerto Rican military experience. In time, she zeroed in on the 65th Infantry’s campaigns in Korea....
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In a way, it is a passionate rejoinder to Ken Burns, whose World War II documentary drew sharp criticism from Latino and American Indian groups for initially ignoring their contributions during that war.
Noemi Figueroa Soulet, a New York actress who produced “The Borinqueneers,” understands why people were upset with Mr. Burns. But she set her sights on a different battle, in more ways than one.
“Why should we be begging Ken Burns for a few minutes in his series?” she said. “We have other guys we can cover ourselves. I really felt there was enough there to tell our story in a full program.”
The idea came to Ms. Figueroa Soulet in the late 1990s, after she saw the film “Saving Private Ryan” and around the time she learned that her husband’s uncle had been wounded in Korea.
“I started thinking, what about the Puerto Rican experience?” she said. “I would see a war movie or documentary and I would look for the Latino faces. I always want to see how we are represented. Historically, I knew we served in the military, but you wouldn’t know it.”
Though she had never made a documentary before, she set out to chronicle the Puerto Rican military experience. In time, she zeroed in on the 65th Infantry’s campaigns in Korea....