Puerto Ricans in World War II - Discrimination

Discrimination

During World War II, the United States Army was segregated. Puerto Ricans who resided on the mainland and who were fluent in English served alongside their "White" counterparts and "Black" Puerto Ricans were assigned to units made up mostly of African Americans. Puerto Ricans from the island served in Puerto Rico's segregated units, like the 65th Infantry and the Puerto Rico National Guard's 295th and 296th regiments. Racial discrimination practiced against Hispanic Americans, including Puerto Ricans on the United States' east coast and Mexican Americans in California and the Southwest, was widespread. Some Puerto Ricans who served in regular Army units were witnesses to the racial discrimination of the day.

In an interview, PFC Raul Rios Rodriguez said that during his basic training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he had encountered a strict drill instructor who was particularly harsh on the Hispanic and black soldiers in his unit. He stated that he remains resentful of the discriminatory treatment that Latino and black soldiers received during basic training: "We were all soldiers; we were all risking our lives for the United States. That should have never been done, never." Rios Rodriguez was shipped to Le Havre, France, assigned to guard bridges and supply depots in France and Germany with the 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.

Another soldier, PFC Felix López-Santos was drafted into the Army and sent to Fort Dix in New Jersey for training. López -Santos went to Milne Bay and then to the small island of Woodlark, both in New Guinea, where he was in the communications department using telephone wires to communicate to the troops during the war. In an interview, López-Santos stated that in North Carolina he witnessed some forms of racial discrimination, but never experienced it for himself. He stated: "I remember seeing some colored people refused service at a restaurant, I believe that I was not discriminated against because of my blue eyes and fair complexion."

According to Carmen García Rosado, one of the hardships which Puerto Rican women in the military were subject to was the social and racial discrimination which at the time was rampant in the United States against the Latino community.