Hispanics
Many Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans and served in the Armed Forces during the war. They often fought in units made up of Hispanics or Spanish-speaking Americans. Hispanics won many awards for bravery, including 17 Congressional Medals of Honor. A Marine corpse private, Guy Gabaldon, received a Silver star for capturing 1000 Japanese.
In spite of their contribution to the war effort Mexican-American still faced racial prejudice. During the war young Mexican Americans in Los Angeles adopted a new fashion known as "zoot" suits. In June 1943 white sailors on leave from their ships attacked a group of young men in "zoot" suits. Newspapers blamed the violence on the Mexican-Americans. Eleanor Roosevelt disagreed. In her newspaper column, she noted that the riots were the result of the "long-standing discrimination against the Mexicans in the Southwest." World War II was a major turning point for US Latinos it changed the worldviews an entire generation. Many Latino soldiers returned home to find the same discrimination they had left behind; they began questioning a system that helps Latinos to a lower status. The amount of Latinos who fought in World War two is not exact but is estimated to be about 250,000 to 500,000. The only precise information provided is about the Puerto Ricans who numbered 53,000. Two hundred Puerto Rican women formed part of the Women's Army Corps. It is difficult to know the exact number of Latinos because they didn't have many expectations and they were not segregated into their own units. Latinos were among the first United States soldiers who saw combat in the war. One of the most famous Hispanic soldiers that received honors for their participation in the war was Private José P. Martínez. Many other Latinos served in noncombatant
In spite of their contribution to the war effort Mexican-American still faced racial prejudice. During the war young Mexican Americans in Los Angeles adopted a new fashion known as "zoot" suits. In June 1943 white sailors on leave from their ships attacked a group of young men in "zoot" suits. Newspapers blamed the violence on the Mexican-Americans. Eleanor Roosevelt disagreed. In her newspaper column, she noted that the riots were the result of the "long-standing discrimination against the Mexicans in the Southwest." World War II was a major turning point for US Latinos it changed the worldviews an entire generation. Many Latino soldiers returned home to find the same discrimination they had left behind; they began questioning a system that helps Latinos to a lower status. The amount of Latinos who fought in World War two is not exact but is estimated to be about 250,000 to 500,000. The only precise information provided is about the Puerto Ricans who numbered 53,000. Two hundred Puerto Rican women formed part of the Women's Army Corps. It is difficult to know the exact number of Latinos because they didn't have many expectations and they were not segregated into their own units. Latinos were among the first United States soldiers who saw combat in the war. One of the most famous Hispanic soldiers that received honors for their participation in the war was Private José P. Martínez. Many other Latinos served in noncombatant