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Show The following is interview number two with Mr. Robert Cuellar, conducted by Greg Coronado in Los Angeles, California, on December _7 1972. GC: Robert, yesterday you mentioned that you were active in the RC: youth branch of the GI Forum. I was reading through some of their furerumers which I think, at the time, was The News Bulletin , which was the news organ for the organization. It mentioned that you were state chairman or state junior chairman for the organization for a couple of years. Would you go further in t o detail, when you first heard about the GI Forum and what prompted you to join and get that active in the organization itself? Sure. I suppose that, again, in terms of what we are talking about, the background that I had, and this applies specifically to how and individual gets involved with a civic - social organiza - tion. Initially, I was fairly new in Odessa, Texas, but there had been previous to my being there an effort t o organize a junior forum. There was also the senior forum which was made up of adults. So someone, again by word of mouth, sort of invited me to attend and join. It seemed like a good thing ironically to join, because we were in high school . If you're familiar with west Texas, the Mexican-American students do not participate as fully in school activity as what :.;e call "the normal group.'' So it was a good opportunity for involvement, it seemed like a very dynamic group of young peop l e, most of us high school age |
