Dear Editor,

LAST Thursday, the U.S. observed Veterans Day, the day set aside to pay tribute to those who served in the U.S. armed forces, in particular those who were sent to war. It had not dawned on me that many, many Guyanese and other West Indians served in the American armed forces and were sent overseas — some seeing military action — until Wednesday evening when I went to a ‘viewing wake’ for a Guyanese in Queens. He was given a military funeral inside the funeral home. The U.S. army gave a fitting military send-off to Prahalad R Sewgobind — formerly of Whim, Corentyne – full honours with the blowing of the bugle amidst utter silence, the salute and the folding of the U.S. flag by members of the armed forces. Sewgobind, like so many other Guyanese, served in Vietnam and he was also sent to guard the border in South Korea. Sewgobind and other born Guyanese became patriotic Americans defending the U.S. flag.

Sewgobind — popularly known as “Golo” in the greater Whim area — would have been so proud to know that the U.S. army honoured him with such a grand send-off for his contributions in protecting the U.S. as so many other Guyanese have done; many were not given proper recognition for their contributions. Guyanese were small in percentage of the U.S. population during the 1960s and 1970s and later decades. But their numbers in the armed forces, especially during the Vietnam war, was large and their percentage in the armed forces would have been larger than their number in the U,S. population. Minorities or people of colour were over-represented in the armed forces.

Guyanese, like other West Indians, started coming to the U.S. in late 1960s in the thousands as foreign students or visitors. Almost all of them were males, except some females who came to do nursing. Almost all of them overstayed and or violated the conditions (such as working illegally) of their visas — as, for example, working illegally — and were subject to deportation; some were deported.  They could have regularised their status if they got married to an American or someone with legal residency or citizenship. As some narrated to me, because of racial prejudice, their options were limited to a Black American or a Puerto Rican, as there were no Guyanese American to whom they could have got married to regularise their papers (obtain green card). Some got married and obtained spousal green card sponsorship. The cultural taboo on exogamous relations restricted Indo-Guyanese marriages, and as such, spousal sponsorships. Some engaged in ‘business relationship’ marriages for green card sponsorship. Illegal immigrants and foreign students were offered a kind of amnesty and green card if they joined the armed forces, which meant military action in the raging war in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos (Indochina).  The latter offer led to many Guyanese joining the U.S. army. After a quick period of training, they were deployed to Vietnam. Indian-Guyanese and Indo-Trinis made up an outsized number of troops in Vietnam –- multiple times their number of the American population. An Indo-Trinidadian informed me that when he arrived in Vietnam in 1970, he was shocked at the number of Indo-Guyanese in his battalion and platoon and in the artillery section.  When the war was over in 1975, they were brought back to the U.S.; some were redeployed to Europe or Korea to guard borders against communist forces.

The families of those who served in the armed forces received cheques as tokens of appreciation. I recall some family members boasting on the Corentyne of getting money from the U.S. government for their sons serving in the U.S. army. The family of those who died in action received financial compensation. It was a $100K during the second Iraq war. Families received support while members were in the forces.

It is not known how many Guyanese joined the armed forces in the late 1960s and 1970s during the height of the Vietnam war. Guyanese also saw military action in other wars such as against Serbia, Iraq invasions (1990 and 2002), Afghanistan, etc. It is not known how many Guyanese died in action in Vietnam or elsewhere and or how many were injured or suffered PTSD (Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder). Guyanese were known to have died serving the American nation. There were news reports of several killed in Iraq (second invasion) and Afghanistan from New York and New Jersey. This writer went to a couple of funerals of Indo-Guyanese Americans killed in the Middle East. Several cousins and family members served in the U.S. armed forces as soldiers and Air Force pilots.

Although they served with honour and fought to protect all Americans, Guyanese were treated with dishonour because of their colour and ethnicity. Racism has been rife in the U.S. since the birth of the nation in 1776 and every group of Americans who came to the country have had to fight for equality, respect and dignity. Indians, in particular, were prohibited from settlement in the U.S. because of their race, with laws specifically excluding them from settlement in the U.S., even though Indian soldiers defended U.S. forces and the American nation in WWI, WWII. The barriers against Indians and other non-White immigrants were removed in 1965, when, because of the Vietnam war, the U.S. experienced a shortage of skilled labourers and opened the border to them, resulting in a flood of professionals from India in various fields (medicine and engineering in particular) to help build America.

Guyanese, like other immigrants, have made enormous contributions to the U.S., protecting it as well as providing labour in so many areas. But their contributions are left out of the classrooms and history books because of their colour and ethnicity. They are overlooked in academia and from the doling out of resources. In a demographic way, it’s sort of a hidden history.
It’s hard to quantify how many Guyanese (by national origin and race) served in the military during the Vietnam war and later years, because the Pentagon didn’t officially keep count by country of origin or even by race. A proper study is needed on the Guyanese role in the U.S. armed forces and economic contributions to the nation.  The oral histories of those who served should be recorded for posterity.

Yours sincerely,

Vishnu Bisram