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Latino groups pressure PBS over Ken Burns WWII series

WASHINGTON -- Hispanic groups unhappy with an upcoming Ken Burns documentary on World War II are stepping up pressure on PBS because they say the series omits mention of the role Latinos played in the war. The latest group to take their grievance to PBS is the American GI Forum, [which] is appealing to Hispanic veterans and other Latino groups to write members of Congress and their local PBS affiliates about the documentary,"The War," which has been six years in the making...the 14-hour Burns documentary [is] set to air this September, Hispanic Heritage month. In a statement issued by his publicist, Burns and co-producer Lynn Novick said they were"dismayed and saddened" by any assumptions they intentionally left out any group."Nothing could be further from the truth," they said... The Burns series documents the war from the perspective of four U.S. communities: Waterbury, Conn.; Luverne, Minn.; Mobile, Ala.; and Sacramento, Calif...."In this latest project, we have attempted to show the universal human experience of war by focusing on the testimonies of just a handful of people mostly from four American towns. As a result, millions of stories are not explored in our film," Burns and Novick said.

Related Links

  • 'Defend the Honor' (of Latino vets) website
  • 'The War' press release
  • Read entire article at AP