World War I
On April 6, 1917, the U.S. Congress declared war on Germany and officially entered World War I. At the time, soldiers and sailors with Spanish surnames or Spanish accents were sometimes the objects of ridicule and relegated to menial jobs. However, Hispanics continued to join the military and serve their nation.
Captain Robert F. Lopez retired from the Navy in 1911. During World War I, he was recalled to active duty and given the rank of Commodore (equivalent to a one star admiral rank, typically used during war time) to command the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.
Luis de Florez graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1911 before joining the Navy. During World War I he became a Naval Aviator. Commander de Flores is credited with numerous inventions which made better flight simulators and equipment for flight safety.
Lieutenant Frederick Lois Riefkohl (1889–1969), a native of Maunabo, Puerto Rico, became the first Puerto Rican to graduate from the USNA, and served as Commander of the Armed Guard of the USS Philadelphia. On August 2, 1917, after engaging an enemy submarine, he was awarded the Navy Cross, the second highest medal that can be awarded by the U.S. Navy
George E. Fernandez a Water Tender ( a first-class petty officer in charge in a fireroom) aboard the USS Shaw was awarded the Navy Cross on October 9, 1918, after his actions aboard the USS Shaw on October 9, 1918, when the Shaw collided with the RMS Aquitania and was cut in two and set on fire. Fernandez threw the ammunition that was piled on the deck of the Shaw overboard, saving the lives of many of his fellow crewmen.
Read more about this topic: Hispanics In The United States Navy
Famous quotes containing the words war i, world and/or war:
“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse.... A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice; a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their own free choice—is often the means of their regeneration.”
—John Stuart Mill (1806–1873)
“When the whole world is writing letters, it’s easy to lap into the quiet within, tell the story of an hour, keep alive the narrating inner life. To be alone in the presence of one’s thought is not a value, only a common practice.”
—Vivian Gornick (b. 1935)
“Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind”
—Stephen Crane (1871–1900)