War and remembrance, American version

  The story of the Finnish Guard has been fascinating.  And it has one excellent modern parallel.  In the South End of Boston, in a formerly Puerto Rican area (now filled with native-born Americans pushing baby carriages) you can find the following monument:

Monument to the memory of the 65th Infantry of Puerto Rico

This monument is dedicated to the heroic Puerto Rican soldiers who made up the glorious 65th Infantry Regiment, whose actions on the battlefield surpassed the standards of bravery and determination. 

They said to us, “We will have peace even though we have to fight for it,” and so we fought in the mountains of Heartbreak Ridge and marched from Inchon.  We froze in the winter and broiled in the summer.  There were moments when we were completely outnumbered but we kept fighting and many of us gave our lives for liberty, justice, and peace.

The 65th Infantry Regiment played a key role in the most heroic episodes ever seen, showing the courage, valiance, and heart of the Puerto Rican soldier in the person of Ángel Luis García Ledesma, the most decorated Puerto Rican soldier in history.  This brave fighter sacrificed his life to cover an enemy grenade with his body, absorbing all its explosive power, thereby saving his compatriots.  For this heroic deed, he was decorated with the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, and monuments have been erected in memory of this transcendental moment of contemporary history.  Today we honor with pride the 65th Infantry Regiment, an example of valor and determination in defense of liberty.

What words aren’t in the monument? 

Comments

[Bernard Guerrero]

At a guess, "United States of America" and "Korea".

[Noel Maurer]

Which seems a little less weird to me after reading Jussi's series of posts. Would you agree, Bernard?

[Jussi Jalonen]

Assuming that one keeps with the theme of "the Imperial Master using one subject race/nation to suppress another"... well, are there any monuments for the "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 9th and the 10th Cavalry, and if so, what kind of engravings do they have?

I suspect that they would also omit those same exact things.

Cheers,

J. J.

[Bernard Guerrero]

"Would you agree, Bernard?"

Mmmnn, yes and no. At a superficial level the analogy is obvious. I'm not sure about the specifics, though.

-The shift in Finnish opinion happened during the 19th century growth of nationalism and national-consciousness. It was this shift that the Tsars were reacting against, for obvious reasons. What's the equivalent for our current period? Post-colonialism? The face of U.S. public policy has been anti-colonial (at least formal colonies) from Roosevelt on.

-Given the 19th century shift I mention above, it makes sense for views about Finnish participation in keeping another putative nation within the Empire to have shifted. Korea, OTOH, would appear to fall within the scope of "good" wars in our current context. Neither Communism nor the sort of hereditary dictatorship practiced by the Kims has seen any great growth in popularity in the years since the war. Quite the opposite. Nor can either Korea be seriously looked at as a victim of colonialism.

-Unlike Finland in the 19th century, PR's had the option to go its own way for some time now, insofar as public opinion might move in that direction. So there appears to me to be less for the Boricua equivalent of a 19th C. Finnish nationalist to rebel against.

[Bernard Guerrero]

Jussi,

I haven't actually seen the monuments in question up close, but I'll wager that they're much more traditional in nature.

-They're located at Fort Bliss and Fort Leavenworth.

-There are active units that trace their regimental "heritage" to the 9th & 10th Cavalry. (My own OSUT was with a unit of the less illustrious 16th, alas.)

[Dennis Brennan]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Puerto_Rico

(I looked it up to confirm my suspicion that the military draft didn't apply to Puerto Rico. I was wrong; it does.)

The wikipedia article says that the 65th was also involved in a mass court martial in 1954. Quoth the wiki:

Col. Cordero Davila

(this dude: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Cesar_Cordero_Davila
)

was relieved of his command by Col. Chester B. DeGavre, a West Point graduate and a "continental" officer from the mainland United States and the officer staff of the 65th was replaced with non-Hispanic officers. DeGavre ordered that the unit stop calling itself the Borinqueneers, cut their special rations of rice and beans, ordered the men to shave off their mustaches and had one of them wear signs that read "I am a coward". It is believed that as a result of this humiliation, combat exhaustion, and the language barrier where factors that influenced some of the men of Company L of the 65th in their refusal to continue to fight.

In December 1954, 162 Puerto Ricans of the 65th Infantry were arrested, 95 were court martialed, and 91 were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 1 to 18 years of hard labor. It was the largest mass court martial of the Korean War. The Secretary of the Army Robert Stevens moved quickly to remit the sentences and granted clemency and pardons to all those involved. Though the men who were court martialed were pardoned, there is currently a campaign for a formal exoneration.[95]

An Army report released in 2001 blamed the breakdown of the 65th on the following factors: a shortage of officers and noncommissioned officers, a rotation policy that removed combat-experienced leaders and soldiers, tactics that led to high casualties, an ammunition shortage, communication problems between largely white, English-speaking officers and Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican enlisted men, and declining morale. The report also found bias in the prosecution of the Puerto Ricans, citing instances of continental soldiers who were not charged after refusing to fight in similar circumstances, before and after Jackson Heights.

[Jose r Hernandez]

my name Msg Hernandez am the president of the puertorican vetrans monument square association of boston. my organization for this monument is to restore the monument i have memeber of the 65th inf in the organization any other comment you can adress to prvm65@yahoo.com

Thank you