FRANK DEL OLMO
California, 1970
Rich boys avoid the military draft
by staying in college, but poor ones
die in Vietnam.
So many Mexican American soldiers
are sent to the violent front lines
that back here in Los Angeles,
families march, shout, and even
throw rocks
to protest.
Policemen attack.
My journalism mentor—Rubén Salazar—is shot
and killed. Can it be a coincidence?
I don’t think so, because everyone knows
he’s been documenting police brutality.
His death leaves the Los Angeles Times
without a journalist who can speak Spanish,
so I move into the essential role
of bilingual
investigative
reporter.
It’s hard to believe that just a few years ago,
I tried to volunteer to be a fighter pilot.
It’s lucky I had bad eyesight and was rejected
by the air force.
Otherwise, I never would have gone to college
and learned how to make up my own mind
about war and other
sorrows.