Background
Originally organized as the Continental Marines on November 10, 1775, as naval infantry, the Marine Corps has evolved in its mission with changing military doctrine and American foreign policy. The Marine Corps has participated in every American armed conflict including the Revolutionary War.
There are various factors which make it difficult to determine when exactly Hispanics began to serve in the Corps. One of these factors is that statistics on Hispanics were not kept by the military until the 1970s when the United States Census Bureau coined the phrase. Before then only unreliable estimates were made. For example, during World War II Hispanic Americans were estimated to comprise 2.3% to 4.7% of the Armed Forces. However, the exact number is unknown, as at the time Hispanics were integrated into the general white population census count. Separate statistics were kept for African-Americans and Asian-Americans. Another factor is that the estimates which have been made only take into account individuals whose surname is of Hispanic origin, when in reality there are many Hispanics with non-Hispanic surnames who have served.
Unlike the United States Army, which had an all Puerto Rican unit (the 65th Infantry Regiment) and other units in the Southwest region of the United States mostly made up of Hispanics, the Marines have never had any Hispanic oriented units.
As of 2003, those who joined the U.S. Armed Forces are not required to identify themselves as Hispanics, therefore a person of Hispanic descent who decides that he or she does not want to be considered as a Hispanic and chooses to identify themselves with any race was not be included in the statistics of the Department of Defense as Hispanics.
Read more about this topic: Hispanics In The United States Marine Corps
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