The Ballad of Roy Benavidez relies heavily on Roy Benavidez’s own public speeches and writings, especially the two memoirs he coauthored after his rise to fame. Published in 1986 and 1995, Roy’s autobiographical books offer unique access to his innermost thoughts about his family, childhood, and the events that most profoundly altered his fate. Like all memoirs, Roy’s books were deeply affected by the passage of time, as memories can change and fade across the decades of a person’s life. Roy’s memoirs were also shaped by the historical context of his rise to fame in the 1980s. Years of experience taught Roy that there were things his audiences wanted him to say and others that might have been less appealing to hear. These factors resulted in some relatively minor inaccuracies, omissions, or exaggerations, whether intentional or accidental. Nevertheless, these memoirs are used here as a guide to help trace the broader chronological contours of Roy’s story and as a window to understand his reactions to the circumstances that shaped his life. When possible, the timing and description of events have been verified for accuracy through other sources and relevant firsthand accounts.
This book uses the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” to describe Roy’s race. Generally speaking, Hispanic refers to cultures associated with Spanish-speaking places, and Latino is used to describe people whose families descend from Latin America. But the terminology for people like Roy can be even more complex. At various points in history, other people might have referred to someone of Roy’s background as Tejano, Chicano, Yaqui, Native American, Latinx, Mexican American, or even Mexican, as his family was identified in the 1930 census. This book settles on the terms Hispanic and Latino for historical accuracy and because those are the terms Roy himself used most often to describe his racial and ethnic identity.