Black veterans across America are hoping this painful and enduring legacy will get the attention it deserves in Spike Lee’s new film, Da 5 Bloods, which chronicles the journey of four African American vets who return to Vietnam in search of their fallen squad leader and buried gold.
The complexities of black veterans’ history are rarely reflected on screen, and some retired service members said they were anxious for Lee’s exploration, which portrays the powerful moment a group of African American soldiers listening to the radio in the Vietnamese jungle learned of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
Kingsberry, commander of the National Association for Black Veterans, noted that many African American soldiers were forced to do menial and degrading jobs upon their return from Vietnam, like cleaning and maintenance, and that some, fed up with the disrespect, wound up dishonorably discharged, denying them any benefits for the rest of their lives.
A good place to start would be recognition of the sacrifices black soldiers made in Vietnam and after, Kingsberry said, adding that he hoped Lee’s film sparked that conversation: “We need more stories of African Americans that served in that era.”
Lee is releasing his film at a time when the Covid-19 crisis carries painful parallels for some African American veterans, given the unequal losses of black Americans in the epidemic.
