Alex Gomez
Portrait by: Leopoldo Peña
58a. My Struggle and Redemption
“At the age of 17, I did so well in school that I graduated early and I joined the Marines … My recruiter told me … when I took my oath to swear in, that I would become a US citizen. And that was not true. Just coincidentally, it’s the same oath verbatim between your induction oath [into the Marines] and the US citizen oath … I know that my service, I did it in gratitude for the country that gave me an education, gave me a home. English is my first language. When I go to sleep I dream in English, and now all of a sudden, I’m stuck in this country that doesn’t speak English. I’m ridiculed … I’m not wanted here, can’t go back to the United States because the government doesn’t want me there. So, I’m literally a man with no country.”
58b. My Struggle and Redemption
“Keep in mind that I have lived in the United States for all those years, from 1967 to 2010. So I consider myself to be more of an American. I know that my service I did it in gratitude for the country that gave me an education, gave me a home. English is my first language, when I go to sleep I dream in English. And all of a sudden I am stuck in this county that doesn’t speak English. I am ridiculed, I am discriminated against. They call me güero, gavacho, plastico, which means that I am a fake mexican. So I am not wanted here, can’t go to the United States because the government doesn’t want me there so I am literally a man with no coutry.”