The first Borinqueneers Day in the U.S. will be observed on April 13 honoring Puerto Rican veterans.
More than 70 years later, the soldiers of the 65th Infantry Regiment — who also fought in World War I and World War II — are finally being recognized. In January, Congress passed a defense bill that included a provision designating April 13 as Borinqueneers Day.
The Borinqueneers have been likened to the all-Black Tuskegee Airmen and the World War II Navajo Code Talkers — racially segregated military units that helped win wars. The Borinqueneers as a group earned a Congressional Gold Medal on April 13, 2016. Over 700 members of the unit died in combat up until it was disbanded in 1959, and only about 1,000 were still alive as recently as 2016, according to the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College.
I've heard both pros and cons concerning Puerto Rican statehood.
More than 70 years later, the soldiers of the 65th Infantry Regiment — who also fought in World War I and World War II — are finally being recognized. In January, Congress passed a defense bill that included a provision designating April 13 as Borinqueneers Day.
The Borinqueneers have been likened to the all-Black Tuskegee Airmen and the World War II Navajo Code Talkers — racially segregated military units that helped win wars. The Borinqueneers as a group earned a Congressional Gold Medal on April 13, 2016. Over 700 members of the unit died in combat up until it was disbanded in 1959, and only about 1,000 were still alive as recently as 2016, according to the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College.
I've heard both pros and cons concerning Puerto Rican statehood.