Patriots from the Barrio

Patriots from the Barrio is the true story of a US Army combat unit during WWII. Author Dave Gutierrez started to research the biography of relative Ramon G. Gutierrez, who served in the Thirty-Sixth Division, 141st Regiment, Second Battalion, Company E. The unit was comprised entirely of Mexican Americans from the barrios of south Texas. Gutierrez spent four years on the research and compiled several individual stories to tell one incredible story of the US Army battles in Italy during WWII. Gutierrez records the sensitive subjects of discrimination, segregation of schools, and the illegal deportation of Mexican Americans during the Great Depression. Relative Ramon Gutierrez from Del Rio Texas was awarded the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts by the US Army. Captured by the enemy twice, he was able to escape and make it back across to Allied lines. He would also become one of only a handful of Americans to be decorated for valor on the battlefield by the Soviet Union during WWII. His true story and the men that served in the US Army's unique and historical all Mexican American combat unit is chronicled in Patriots from the Barrio.