I have to admit, I only decided to blog about this day because Borinqueneers was such a weird word and I’d never heard it.
Turns out the Borinqueneers are the 65th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army. It comes from the indigenous name for Puerto Rico—which fits since it’s Puerto Rican regiment that has been around since the 1900s. It participated in World War I, defending the Panama Canal. The regiment was all over the place during World War II—Africa, France, Germany.
The Korean War is the meatiest part of the history of the Borinqueneers. They were credited with helping the 1st Marine Division get back to Hungnam. It’s a great story, too detailed to tell here. Everything went to hell in 1952, when the officer staff was replaced with “Continental” (white) U.S. officers and cultural problems ensued stemming from moustaches and language barriers, leading to the largest mass court-martial of the war. It took two months for the issue to come to light and government officials to get together and sort everything out. At that point, the sentences were remitted and everyone was pardoned. I think they were all exonerated, but it took a dashed long time.
Over time, the regiment got split up. The 1st battalion joined the 92nd Infantry and served in Global War on Terrorism and the Iraq War. The rest of the regiment is now the Puerto Rican National Guard.
So now I know something I didn’t know before, and I have another topic I want to read up on. Anyone else know more about this and have a good book they recommend?
Arwen Adams Bicknell 