By Clint Olivier

FRESNO - The documentary shows how a young Jesus Garcia worked the Central Valley's fields, then became an athlete with the kind of talent a coach told him could carry him to the Olympics.

"But the Olympics had to wait, because I wanted to serve my country first," he said.

Garcia did three tours of duty in Vietnam.

Trained as a combat medic, an infantryman and other specialties, Jesus got caught in a bloody ambush that would change his life forever.

"We exchanged tanks. He got blown away by an RPG right in the chest. And that was the position I was in," Garcia said.

After the war Garcia returned to the Valley with battle scars, post-traumatic stress disorder and a chest full of medals.

Those same decorations have been the cause of much heartache for Garcia.

He says a misunderstanding caused him to be mentioned in the 1998 book "Stolen Valor," about vets who fake their histories.

His service records lost and his reputation ruined, Garcia has spent the last ten years trying to clear his name.

"I firmly believe out of something bad, like what they did to me with that book, something good came out of it," Garcia said.

Garcia's talking about his documentary and his producer, Roosevelt High School senior Jennifer Gaxiola.

Gaxiola says her experience working with Jesus was very touching, and she says the old warrior felt the same.

"I saw it in his face the first time he saw the video. He was close to tearing up," Gaxiola said.

Gaxiola worked on one of five films made in conjunction with the center for multicultural cooperation this year.

The films now go to the Library of Congress to be archived for generations to learn from and enjoy.