{"product_id":"the-ballad-of-roy-benavidez-the-life-and-times-of-americas-most-famous-hispanic-war-hero-9781541600263","title":"The Ballad of Roy Benavidez: The Life and Times of America's Most Famous Hispanic War Hero","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe dramatic life of Vietnam War hero Roy Benavidez, revealing how Hispanic Americans have long shaped US history, from \"a major new voice [with] lyrical powers as a biographer\" (David W. Blight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eFrederick Douglass\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In May 1968, while serving in Vietnam, Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez led the rescue of a reconnaissance team surrounded by hundreds of enemy soldiers. He saved the lives of at least eight of his comrades that day in a remarkable act of valor that left him permanently disabled. Awarded the Medal of Honor after a yearslong campaign, Benavidez became a highly sought-after public speaker, a living symbol of military heroism, and one of the country's most prominent Latinos.   \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Now, historian William Sturkey tells Benavidez's life story in full for the first time. Growing up in Jim Crow-era Texas, Benavidez was scorned as \"Mexican\" despite his family's deep roots in the state. He escaped poverty by enlisting in a desegregating military and was first deployed amid the global upheavals of the 1950s. Even after receiving the Medal of Honor, Benavidez was forced to fight for disability benefits amid Reagan-era cutbacks. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e An unwavering patriot alternately celebrated and snubbed by the country he loved, Benavidez embodied many of the contradictions inherent in twentieth-century Latino life. \u003ci\u003eThe Ballad of Roy Benavidez\u003c\/i\u003e places that experience firmly at the heart of the American story. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWilliam Sturkey\u003c\/b\u003e is an associate professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eHattiesburg\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the Benjamin L. Hooks National Book Award and winner of the 2020 Zócalo Book Prize, and the coeditor of \u003ci\u003eTo Write in the Light of Freedom\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50604644073746,"sku":"9781541600263","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_566e8fa7-1b59-4301-be18-3735afbbbab2.jpg?v=1732262130","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-ballad-of-roy-benavidez-the-life-and-times-of-americas-most-famous-hispanic-war-hero-9781541600263","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}