The U.S. government didn’t begin tracking separate statistics on Hispanic servicemembers until the 1970s. However, history indicates that — even as far back as when the colonies were fighting for independence from Great Britain — Hispanic servicemembers have played an integral part in U.S. military efforts.  

Revolutionary War (1775-83)

1780

Jordi Farragut Mesquida (aka George Farragut), a Minorcan-born American naval officer, fights the British in the Siege of Charleston, S.C.  

Photo credit: James Grant Wilson/ Public domain

Civil War (1861-65)

1864

David Glasgow Farragut, son of George Farragut, famously exclaims, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” at the Battle of Mobile Bay, Ala. He went on to become the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the U.S. Navy. 

   
Photo credit: Henry Alexander Ogden/ Public domain

Spanish-American War (1898)

1898

Several thousand Hispanic volunteers fight with the U.S. Army; Capt. Maximiliano Luna serves in the first U.S. volunteer cavalry, also known as the Rough Riders, with Col. Theodore Roosevelt.

   
Photo credit: William Dinwiddie/ Public domain

World War I (1917-18)

1917

Then-Navy Lt. Frederick Lois Riefkohl, the first Puerto Rican to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, engages with an enemy submarine and is awarded the Navy Cross.  

Photo credit: USN

World War II (1941-45)

1941

Lt. j.g. Maria Rodriguez Denton becomes the first female officer of Puerto Rican descent in the U.S. Navy as a member of the WAVES.   

Photo credit: USN

1944

Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph Tezanos, USCG, helps rescue nearly 42 people during a fire at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in May; he is awarded a Navy and Marine Corps Medal.   

Photo credit: USCG

Korean War (1950-53)

1950

USS Noble, under Puerto Rican-born Navy Adm. Horacio Rivero Jr.’s command, steams to Korea in August to participate in the September Inchon amphibious assault.   

Photo credit: USN

1950-52

The 65th Infantry Regiment, an all-Hispanic U.S. Army unit nicknamed “The Borinqueneers,” fights as a segregated unit in some of the bloodiest battles of the war.  

Photo credit: U.S. Army

Vietnam War (1955-75)

1964

Lt. Cmdr. Everett Alvarez Jr., USN, endures one of the longest periods as a POW when his plane is shot down over North Vietnam Aug. 5. He was held for eight years and seven months.  

Photo credit: USN

Gulf War (1990-91)

1991

On Jan. 22, Capt. Manuel Rivera Jr., a Marine Corps aviator, becomes the first Hispanic servicemember to be killed in Operation Desert Shield.  

Photo credit: USMC

Global War Against Terrorism/Overseas Contingency Operations (2001-present)

2004

During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Brig. Gen. Joseph V. Medina, USMC, becomes the first Marine Corps general ever to be assigned as a commander of naval ships.

Photo credit: Petty Officer 3rd Class Jo A. Wilbourn Sims, USN