Martinez, J. Oscar

Born in Baja California and reared in Sonora; her family left Guaymas during the Mexican Revolution; recalls years (1914-1916) of poverty, hunger and famine in Sonora; unsuccessful attempts by her widowed mother and her children to emigrate to the United States in the late 1910's; eventual emigration to the United States.

Member of Otomi Indian tribe biographical data, including his family and life in the tribe; joined the Mexican Army as a young man; the Diaz-Taft meeting in El Paso in 1909' the Mexican Revolution; El Paso and Ciudad Juárez in 1920; labor experiences in Texas, Michigan, and Illinois; the Escobar Revolution and the Cristero Revolt.

Bracero Program; experiences and duties as a bracero; anectodes of the braceros and working and living conditions on a pear ranch; duties in the Navy; Vietnam, where he was almost awarded the Purple Heart, some of the prejudices he encountered; deferential attitudes of the Mexican when dealing with "gringos."