This is my first post. I am interested in the Military History section.
I have found what I think is a mistake on a featured article that involves two different sections. One is this section and the other is Hispanics in the US. I read that featured articles should be edited with care, preferably after consensus is reached with their authors. I would like people to comment on the following, where or what should be my next step.
The article is Hispanic Americans in World War II which continues the fallacy that and I quote from the article itself: "Puerto Ricans and Hispanics residing in Puerto Rico were assigned to the 65th Infantry Regiment or to the Puerto Rico National Guard." [Fallacy may be a strong word and is not used with the intent to insult anyone, so please let me know if you would have used a different word]
My father service for the second world war was in the 762nd Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion. An uncle served in the 766th AAA Gun Battalion. My research in my father's service yielded the official US Army history of the 762nd AAA gun battalion and on another gun battalion, the 891st AAA Gun Battalion. This research also yielded another source for unit histories at the Carlisle Barracks in Pennsylvania. These are called Unit History Cards in microfilm. On both histories of the 762nd and 891st AAA gun battalions, it is stated that "the US Army intended to leave the antiaircraft defense of the Panama Canal to drafted Puerto Ricans." As such, both histories state when these Puerto Ricans arrived to these two battalions. It also stated that "the first continentals will leave on..." The battalions were activated on September 1943 and the Puerto Ricans arrived in October 1943. Although in these battalions a cadre or a group of continentals stayed to train the Puerto Ricans, most left, and so I think they should be listed as other units that were supposed to be composed only of Puerto Ricans just like the 65th Infantry Regiment. The training apparently did not satisfy the US Army, as the cadre never left the units. Continentals is the word described by the American commander of the battalion. These were white soldiers or soldiers with Hispanic surnames that had addresses in the contiguous 48 states.
The Unit History Cards in the Carlisle Barracks lists other Puerto Rican battalions serving in Panama other than the 762nd, 767th, and 891st AAA gun battalions:
761st AAA Gun Battalion 763rd AAA Gun Battalion 764th AAA Gun Battalion 765th AAA Gun Battalion 767th AAA Gun Battalion 901st AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion 902nd AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion 903rd AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion 906th AAA Automatic Weapons Battalion
There were some searchlight battalions as well, but I do not have the Unit History Card for these so cannot testify as to the searchlight battalions as being composed of Puerto Ricans.
However the 65th Infantry Regiment is the most famous of all, as this regiment was the only Puerto Rican Regiment that was established before WWII began, and saw combat in WWII and Korea, so it is well known. Everyone therefore knows about the 65th Infantry but no one knows about the 12 battalions I mentioned.
I think I have proven part of the fallacy I exposed at the beginning. The histories are:
1. United States. War Department. History of the 762nd Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion. 15 September 1943 to 31 May 1945. Former designation 72d Coast Artillery Regiment. Fort Randolph, Canal Zone. Prepared at Inglewood, California and dated 31 May 1945. Available from the National Archives and Records Administration, Maryland.
2. United States. War Department. History of the 891st Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion. 15 September 1943 to 28 February 1945. Former designation First Battalion, 615th CA (AA). Fort Clayton, Canal Zone. Prepared at Inglewood, California and dated 31 May 1945. Available from the National Archives and Records Administration, Maryland.
As to the second part of the quote. For this I will use my dad's and uncle's service numbers. This is a number that during WWII had 8 cyphers. I will not reveal the complete number of their IDs, but will replace the other cyphers with #. My dad and uncle service numbers begin with 30,###,###. The website http://home.att.net/~steinert/us_army_ww2_dog_tags.htm states that Puerto Ricans drafted had service numbers "from 30,400,000 > 30,499,999." Those Puerto Ricans in the Regular Army ranged from "10,400,000 > 10,499,999" while Puerto Rico National Guard members ranged "20,020,000 > 20,029,999."
Neither my father nor my uncle were assigned to the "65th Infantry Regiment or to the Puerto Rico National Guard." I think this proves the fallacy of this article, and I may jump to state that many, many other Puerto Ricans were neither assigned to the "65th Infantry Regiment or to the Puerto Rico National Guard."
Added after the original post=
editIn page 440, the book Guarding the United States and Its Outposts states that there were 17,000 Puerto Ricans in uniform by 1943. This was not acceptable. So the experiment were made to sent the 65th Infantry Regiment to Panama and another small detachment to Batista Field in Cuba. After these two experiments, it was decided to replace the continentals in Panama with drafted Puerto Ricans.
So, was the creation of these all-Puerto Rican-only racism? By itself, no. Probably it was not known how well they were skilled in English. And whether they would be able to learn the required subjects. In reading the histories of both the 762nd AAA and 891st AAA gun battalions, commanders stated similar a similar assessment. Puerto Ricans adapted quickly but had problems being trained in the more technical aspects like radar and motor transportation. There seemed to be a reluctance on top sergeants to carry out their duties.
On the other hand, the Fourth Air Force inspector wrote a scathing report on some officer's attitude. The inspector found that some officer's attitude had to be readjusted concerning the Puerto Ricans and their training since it seemed these "officers blamed Puerto Ricans for their own inadequacies," and had these officers treated Puerto Ricans without the attitude they would have found in the Puerto Rican the same soldierly qualities that continentals did. This is a quote from the inspection of the 891st AAA Gun Battalion quoted in the history itself.
To close this section, let us answer the question: Could Puerto Ricans in the Panama battalions like the 762nd AAA and 891st AAA gun battalions speak English? According to the commander of the 891st Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion, Puerto Ricans could "speak English with an accent unique to them." We can only answer with a question of our own: Is the same English accent heard from New England, to New York, to the South, and in Texas? You answer...
Flyer333555 (talk) 20:57, 29 August 2008 (UTC)