The Minutemen chain of command -- Acknowledgments -- Preface: a place on the border. Introduction: all quiet on the souther front -- American dreams -- Camp vigilance -- Gordon and his guns -- Scenes from the border -- Encounters -- Belonging in America. Afterword to the paperback edition -- Appendix: A note on methodology
Summary
They live in the suburbs of Tennessee and Indiana. they fought in Vietnam and Desert Storm. They speak about an older, better America, and for the past decade, they have come to the U.S.-Mexico border to hunt for illegal immigrants. Who are the Minutemen? Are they Patriots? Racists? Vigilantes? The author patrolled the border with them, seeking to understand who they are. challenging simplistic depictions of these men as right-wing fanatics, the author discovers a group of men who long for community and embrace the principles of civic engagement. Yet these desires and convictions have led them to a troubling place. The author takes you to that place - a stretch of desert in southern Arizona, where he reveals that what draws these men to the border is not simply racism or anti-immigrant sentiments, but a chance to relive a sense of meaning and purpose rooted in an older life of soldiering. Now with a new afterword by the author, this book brings understanding to a group of people in search of lost identities and experiences
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-184) and index
