Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment's bayonet charge against a Chinese division during the Korean War
On Memorial Day let us not forget those who fought for their country, who often fought and died as part of segregated units, who faced racism and discrimination when at home and in the military, yet who fought on.
The Congressional Gold Medal has already been awarded to the Navajo Code Talkers, the Nisei Soldiers, the Tuskegee Airmen, and the Montford Point Marines.
I am proud that my dad was a Tuskegee airman. There were Puerto Ricans who were also sent to Tuskegee. But the unit who fought and often died that was all Puerto Rican has not yet been awarded this honor.
There is currently bi-partisan legislation in Congress, "The Borinqueneers Congressional Gold Medal Act (H.R.1726) introduced by Pedro Pierluisi & Bill Posey.
Elizabeth Warren is the first Senator to co-sponsor this legislation.
You can participate in the efforts to encourage your representatives to sign on.
Borinqueneers Congressional Gold Medal Alliance
Follow me below the fold to learn more about the Borinqueneers, and the history of Puerto Ricans in our military.
"El Monumento de la Recordación" (Monument of Remembrance) in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Etched on this memorial monument in San Juan are the names of more than 2,000 Puerto Ricans who gave their lives in U.S. wars.
Among the names of the fallen are those of Puerto Rican Medal of Honor recipients.
"The names of the first four Puerto Rican Medal of Honor recipients were among the original inscriptions in Puerto Rico's "El Monumento de la Recordación" (Monument of Remembrance) which is dedicated to the Puerto Ricans (both those who were born in the island and/or those who were born elsewhere, but are of Puerto Rican descent) who have fallen in combat as members of the Armed Forces of the United States."
Puerto Ricans were made U.S. citizens in 1917, by the
Jones–Shafroth Act, right before the start of WWI. They have a
long history of service in our armed forces. They fight and die for the U.S. but still have no right to vote in national elections.
Close to 20,000 Puerto Ricans were drafted to fight in WWI. Many Puerto Ricans on the mainland joined the black Harlem Hellfighters.
Racist thinking actually allowed the US military to conduct racial "mustard gas testing" on white, Puerto Rican, black, and Japanese American troops, to see if they would be affected differently than whites.
Though Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9881, in 1948, beginning the end of segregation in the military, by the time of the Korean War, racism in the military had not been eliminated.
The documentary film,
The Borinqueneers tells the story of the 65th.
The 65th Infantry Regiment was created in 1899 by the U.S. Congress as a segregated unit composed primarily of Puerto Ricans with mostly continental officers. It went on to serve meritoriously in three wars: World War I, World War II and the Korean War. The unit was nicknamed after "Borinquen", the word given to Puerto Rico by its original inhabitants, the Taino Indians, meaning "land of the brave lord".
When they were finally called to the front lines in the Korean War, the men of the 65th performed impressively, earning praise from General MacArthur. They performed a critical role containing the Chinese advance and supporting the U.S. Marines in the aftermath of the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. Sent to every corner of the peninsula, they showed outstanding resilience and a legendary fierceness as combatants, even as they faced discrimination within the Army. But in the fall of 1952 the regiment was at the center of a series of dramatic events that would threaten its very existence.
Puerto Ricans occupy a special place in the history of the U.S. Army. Because of the island's commonwealth status, they don't have the right to vote in U.S. elections, and yet they serve in the military and can be drafted. For many of the veterans of the 65th, this paradox became an incentive to be even more patriotic, to prove themselves in battle 200%.
The story behind the story of the 65th is the
mass court-martial they received in Korea.
Then came the battle for Outpost Kelly. Elements of the 65th held the bare hill forward of the main U.S. line in September 1952 when the Chinese slammed in, driving the Puerto Ricans off. Twice the troops clawed their way back, only to be overwhelmed each time by Chinese artillery. Sergio Lopez de Lopez, a 23-year-old private, was among those called to climb Kelly. "Thirty-eight men went up," he remembers. "Three came down."
By the end of September, Kelly was in enemy hands, the 65th had suffered 542 casualties and the 8th Army command was ordering changes. Col. Juan Cesar Cordero Davila, the highest-ranking Puerto Rican in the Army, was replaced as regimental commander by Col. Chester B. DeGavre, a West Point graduate and a "continental," a white officer from the mainland United States.
DeGavre stripped the name Borinqueneers from the unit. He cut special rations of rice and beans. But what veterans remember most was his order that they shave their mustaches "until such a time as they gave proof of their manhood."
He made some of the men wear signs that said "I am a coward".
The film tells the story of what happened to these men.
In December 1954, one hundred and sixty-two Puerto Ricans of the 65th Infantry were arrested. Ninety-five soldiers were court martialed and ninety-one were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to 18 years of hard labor. It was the largest mass court-martial of the Korean War. According to cultural historian Silvia Álvarez Curbelo, the government of Puerto Rico, caught in the middle of a potentially damaging affair that could jeopardize its political agenda, kept silent for nearly two months. Finally, the incidents were made known by a local newspaper alerted by several letters written by the imprisoned soldiers to their families. Secret negotiations between the U.S. and Puerto Rican governments, were made and the Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens moved quickly to remit the sentences and granted clemency and pardons to all those involved.
"The Puerto Ricans forming the ranks of the gallant 65th Infantry give daily proof on the battlefields of Korea of their courage, determination and resolute will to victory, their invincible loyalty to the United States and their fervent devotion to those immutable principles of human relations which the Americans of the Continent and of Puerto Rico have in common. They are writing a brilliant record of heroism in battle and I am indeed proud to have them under my command. I wish that we could count on many more like them." February 12, 1951,
General Douglas MacArthur
They served. So many died. They continued to serve and die in all our wars.
As U.S. citizens and Puerto Ricans.
En memoria de los que murieron luchando por nuestro país
In memory of those who died fighting for our country.
Rest in Peace, with honor and dignity.