Latino Patriotism
07/04/2000

Few others can claim the patriotism demonstrated by our Hispanic citizens.
Consistent with this, they've received awards for heroism and bravery far
in excess to their proportion of the population.
   --Ronald Reagan - September 16, 1981
 Second Street in Silvis, Illinois has been renamed Hero Street. In the past 50 years over 100 men and women from this street of mostly Latino families have been sent to war. Six lost their lives in WWII and two during the Korean War, all of Mexican descent. The Department of Defense has acknowledged that no other street of comparable size has had as many men and women give service to the Armed Forces. Puerto Ricans have served since 1917 through the draft and volunteer service without the benefit of having the opportunity to elect their Command-In-Chief or influence Congressional decisions on war. Hispanics have served this country consistently since the American Revolution, yet because we love to hold on to our language, our culture, and heritage, we often have their loyalty and patriotism called into question.

Today the American Patrol (Voice of Citizens Together), who constantly warns us against the "Mexican Invasion", will be holding a rally praising Roger Barnett as a patriot. Roger Barnett claims to have detained more than 3,000 immigrants using "peaceful but armed" methods. His brother Don has stopped people on the highway, while armed, to detain them. In various demonstrations, non-Latinos will see the flags of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico and question the sincerity of our American patriotism. Some want laws making the rules of English stricter for immigration and others want to make English the official/only language insisting that language is what holds us together. I'd say it was patriotism, not language or ethnicity.

Felix Longoria is an incarnation of the dichotomy of Latino service to the United States of America. At the age of 25, he left behind his wife and four year old daughter to answer his draft notice. Seven months later he was killed by a sniper after volunteering for patrol in the Philippines. When his remains were returned in 1949, the only local funeral home refused to hold a wake because "the whites would not like it." Eventually, the American GI Forum called enough attention to incident to have Private Longoria buried in the Arlington National Cemetery with full honors. While consistently serving on the front lines with honors, we have often returned home to have our loyalty and patriotism questioned.

On the next page you will find some details of Hispanic contributions to America's defense. The contributors include recent immigrants, citizens, non-citizens, and those in U.S. colonial territories.

Next Page > Hispanic Contributions to America's Military Page 1, 2, 3

--by Richard L Vázquez--