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The Borinqueneers - aka The 65th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army (Part One)
The Borinqueneers were a kickass, all-Hispanic, mostly Puerto Rican, unit of the US Army. These servicemen and women served honorably and with distinction during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.
Part One covers the formation of the unit, the infamous SS Odenwald incident, and just a few of the contributions of these passionate, loyal, outstanding Boricuas during WWI.
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Welcome to the BoricuameRican podcast, where we talk about all kinds of things and people related to Puerto Rico, La Isla del Encanto, from true crime to celebrities to personal stories and traditions and more! You can find us on Instagram at Boricuamerican underscore podcast, and on Facebook at Boricuamerican (we have a group and a Facebook page). I’m your humble host, Nancy! If you’re a returning listener, thank you! If you’re a new listener, welcome! I was born and raised in New Jersey into a very strong Puerto Rican family. I love both my Puerto Rican culture and my American culture and am always trying to learn and share so we could keep the history and stories alive! WEPA!
Today I’m very proud and excited to talk about the 65th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army, better known as the Borinqueneers! The Borinqueneers were an all-hispanic, mostly Puerto Rican, unit of the US Army. It was a segregated unit, which sounds crazy to our ears today, but back then segregation was legal. These servicemen and women served honorably and with distinction during World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. The nickname Borinqueneers, which started during the Korean War, comes from the word “Borinquen” which is the Spanish version of the Taino word Boriken. Boriken is the original name of Puerto Rico, what the natives called the island.
On April 13, 2016, the Borinqueneers were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the White House. I would like to quote Speaker of the House at the time, Paul Ryan: “the Borinqueneers ‘showed us time and again that, courage does not know color; decency does not pick sides. These men did not fight to preserve the status quo; they fought to make their country better. And they succeeded.’" That date, April 13, was officially designated National Borinqueneers Day.
I know you can listen to this any time, but I’m actually recording a couple of days before the anniversary of when the original Puerto Rican regiment was officially redesignated the 65th Infantry Regiment and became part of the regular U.S. Army. That was September 14, 1920.
But we will start at the beginning. And this episode is gonna be part one because there’s a lot of information and I wanna give proper time to people and events.
The first thing I wanted to do was get my arms around the different types of groups. Cuz I have basic, foundational, military knowledge but once you start talking about regiments and battalions and infantries and all that, I don’t know the difference. So bear with me!
So first, the word infantry refers to foot soldiers who engage in ground combat.
A regiment is made up of 2000-5000 soldiers, who get split among 3-5 battalions. Shout out to Christina Knight and THIRTEEN PBS who published a nice blog and chart outlining all the different groups - from squad which is 6-10 soldiers, all the way to field army which is 50,000 soldiers and up. The blog is called “U.S. Army Units Explained: From Squads to Brigades to Corps.” I’ll put the chart up on IG. So I won’t go through every single level.
I wanna go through this with a timeline. We start on December 10, 1898. The US defeats Spain in the Spanish-American War and takes over control of Puerto Rico under the Treaty of Paris.
Three months later: March 3rd, 1899: the Army Appropriation Bill becomes law. Under this bill, Congress authorizes the creation of the Puerto Rico Battalion of Volunteer Infantry.
Three weeks later, on March 24, 1899: the 1st Battalion is organized in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. There are 4 companies: A, B, C and D, each company having 100 men, all natives of Puerto Rico. The volunteer battalion is commanded by Major Lorenzo P. Davinson. They weren’t called the Borinqueneers yet. We’ll get to that. The officers and first sargeants, meaning the top leaders, were generally, mostly, probably all, white men from the mainland US. Puerto Ricans actually called them “Continentals.”
They also formed the regimental band. That’s the musical group of the army. They play at inaugurations, ceremonies, and other military events.
February 12, 1900: a 2nd Battalion was organized, this time at Henry Barracks, which was an Army base in Cayey, Cayey being a mountain town roughly 30 miles southwest of San Juan. This was a Mounted Battalion, meaning they got around on horseback, but also fought on foot. There are 4 companies in this battalion: E, F, G and H. This unit is named the “Porto Rico Regiment, U.S. Volunteers.” At that time, “Puerto” was being spelled “Porto”, after the Americanized pronunciation.
April 12, 1900: under the Foraker Act, Puerto Rico’s inhabitants are declared “Citizens of Porto Rico” and “American Nationals” under the protection of the United States. So, not quite full US citizens just yet.
March 4, 1901: the First Battalion and the Army band travel to Washington DC to perform at President William McKinley’s inauguration.
On June 30, 1901, the Porto Rico Regiment of Volunteers Infantry was discharged, and a new regiment was organized. This new regiment was called the "Puerto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry". This regiment was made up of two battalions, one of them mounted.
The next day, July 1, 1901, a bill is passed stating that all new recruits must pass physical and mental exams to join the Puerto Rican regiment. There’s another important provision in this bill. It gets the wheels in motion to start allowing Puerto Rican civilians to be appointed second lieutenants for a 4-year term, if they passed the exams. This was a big step in calming tensions between the Americans and the Puerto Ricans. The actual authorization and implementation of this bill, meaning the green light to start recruitng and appointing Boricuas to second lieutenants, took effect on April 23, 1904. We would like to recognize these first leaders of the Puerto Rican regiment. Jaime Nadal, Henry Rexach (rrre-SACK), Pedro Parra, Eduardo Iriarte, Teofilo Marxuach (mar-choo-HAHK), Eugenio María de Hostos, Luis Emmanuelli, and Pascual López. I hope I didn’t miss anyone, and if I did I apologize. On March 4, 1905, one of the Puerto Rico regiment’s battalions traveled to Washington DC to participate in President Theodore Roosevelt’s 2nd inauguration.
May 27, 1908. A major turning point. Congress acts to integrate the Puerto Rico regiment into the regular US Army. So, effective July 1, 1908, the word “volunteer” is dropped, and it becomes the “Puerto Rico Regiment of Infantry, United States Army.”
July 28, 1914: World War I begins.
Now did you know that the first shots fired by the US during WWI happened before the US even joined the war? And that it happened in Puerto Rico, by the Puerto Rican Regiment? The future Borinqueneers???? I did not know that. Here’s what happened.
First we have to understand that under the Hague Conventions, (the Hague Conventions being a set of laws and protocols that have to be followed during times of war) any ship could enter the harbors of neutral countries and territories, and hang out there, for a limited time, to re-stock supplies, make repairs, or hide from the enemy. There were all kinds of laws around this. For example, they could NOT conduct military operations from there, or plot to go help another ship or submarine in the war effort. Beore leaving the harbor they needed an inspection and Customs clearance, to make sure they weren’t violating any navy laws or neutrality laws.
Around the 6th of August of 1914, a German coal carrier called the SS Odenwald, owned by the Hamburg America Line, pulled into San Juan Harbor, claiming to be a civilian merchant ship. This was OK since the US, and by extension Puerto Rico, were neutral. This wasn’t the first German ship to hang out in Puerto Rico. Most of the time ships that did this were gone in 24 hours. But sometimes they would linger for months, hiding from the enemy, in this case the British, and this could have been the Odenwald’s strategy. Keep saying they need more and more repairs. Stuff like that. Also, the US military may have detained them with multiple inspections. They always had their guard up. They knew that the British Navy was looking for German ships and the US, as a neutral country, did not want to appear to be helping any sides in any way.
Then, in February of 1915, Germany declared “unrestricted submarine warfare.”
A month later, on March 18, seven months after arriving, the Odenwald says they would like to sail back to Hamburg the next day - and may they please have 5000 tons of coal? That’s a lot of coal. The US thinks they might really be planning to go supply a German U-boat or cruiser with coal and other stuff. This would be breaking the law.
They are denied exit. Over the next two days, the Captain of the Odenwald, Captain C. S. Segebarth, is warned that if he tries to leave, they’ll use force to stop him.
But that doesn’t stop him.
On March 21, 1915, the Customs inspector boards the Odenwald and is promptly kicked off. At 3:00pm the captain starts sailing towards the mouth of the harbor. The main guys in charge at San Juan Harbor that day were Colonel William P. Burnham, Lieutenant Teófilo Marxuach (mar-choo-HAHK), Captain Wood (first name unknown), and Sargeant Encarnacion Correa.
Everything happened quickly. Wood tried communicating with the vessel to get it to stop, but was ignored. Next, from El Morro Castle, a series of machine gun shots were fired but unheeded. Finally, a single 4.7-inch cannon shot is fired across the bow – and THAT finally stops the vessel. It put its tail between its legs and was towed by a pilot back to the harbor. This action is often regarded as the first shots fired by U.S. forces in the context of World War I, remarkable because it was fired by the Puerto Rico Regiment that would become the 65th Regiment aka the Borinqueneers. And they weren’t even US citizens yet and the US wasn’t technically in the war yet!
It is important to note that there were no direct hits on the ship itself, no casualties, no damage to the ship. Of course, the Germans were pissed. They said the shots were unprovoked. The US maintained that they HAD to do that because they weren’t listening.
On March 23, the US Navy sent muscle to San Juan in the form of two DESTROYERS to deter the Odenwald from trying to escape. Eventually, the US confiscated the vessel. It was refitted, renamed the SS Newport News, and commissioned into the U.S. Navy, where it served until 1925. It was scrapped in 1929.
Back to World War One.
Two years into the war, the US began beefing up the one and only Puerto Rico regiment. In 1916 it added a 3rd battalion, and they made sure the entire regiment had enough weapons and supplies in case they joined the war, which by this time was looking like they would. Also in 1916, the Puerto Rico National Guard was officially established.
Now, the timing of the next couple of events raises a lot of eyebrows. On March 2, 1917, the Jones-Shafroth Act is passed, giving all Puerto Ricans automatic US citizenship. Now all Puerto Rican men are eligible for the draft. There are some who believe that the US only made Puerto Ricans citizens in order to send them to war, not caring if they got killed, because they were racist colonial pigs who thought Puerto Ricans were inferior.
Sure enough, on April 6, 1917, the United States declares war on Germany and officially joins World War One.
May 14,1917: The Regiment, almost 2000 men strong, plus two locally organized battalions of Puerto Rican volunteers (sometimes incorrectly called National Guard units), are sent a thousand-plus miles west, across the Caribbean Sea, to guard the very important and strategic Panama Canal, which had only started operating three years before, on August 15, 1914. But according to Professor Harry Franqui-Rivera, an Associate Professor of History at Montclair State University in New Jersey, he writes that there wasn’t much of a threat from anyone to the canal anyway. It appears their main job was to replace and free up the American soldiers so that they could go fight in Europe, on the well-known Western Front. This highlights the US government’s preference to have the Puerto Ricans on defense in the Caribbean instead of on offense on the front lines in Europe. They apparently didn’t feel the Puerto Ricans were good enough or prepared enough to fight.
May 18, 1917: although there had already been a draft law, President Woodrow Wilson enhanced it. On this date, the Selective Service Act of 1917 passed, which allowed the Commander in Chief to use conscription, in other words, mandatory military service. He did this to have as much manpower for WWI as possible.
Now back to the controversial issue of Puerto Ricans being made US citizens right as the US enters WWI. Professor Franqui-Rivera states that the US did NOT have malicious ulterior motives in granting citizenship. He argues as follows:
First, everyone was included in the draft EXCEPT quote “foreign aliens who declared they would not become citizens and who had entered the country after the declaration of war.” Puerto Ricans were not foreign aliens.
Next, the law called for “American Nationals” to register, not citizens. All US Citizens are American Nationals, but not all American Nationals are citizens. As we mentioned before, Puerto Ricans had been “American Nationals” since 1900. So, they were already able to enlist. And very importantly, the original draft law actually EXCLUDED Puerto Rico!
In fact, just two days later, on May 20, the Puerto Rican Chamber of Delegates (which is a legislative body elected by the people) actually, in the words of Professor Franqui-Rivera: quote “demanded that Puerto Rico be included in the draft and the war plans as a matter of equality.”
The reasons for granting US citizenship had more to do with diplomacy, but that is beyond this episode. So, back to the war.
July 5, 1917: The first day of the draft. A whopping 104,550 Puerto Ricans registered! In the end, 236,853 enlisted. They were a mix of draftees and volunteers. Of those 200 plus thousand, only 17,855 were accepted. And of those nearly 18,000, only 139 changed their minds and did not report for duty. The number of men who made the effort to sign up was a significant percentage of the population. In 1920, the total population of Puerto Rico was only 1.3 million. That’s a huge percentage of the population that wanted to serve! It was a matter of pride and honor.
This group of soldiers was organized and called the Puerto Rican Division. That’s separate from the Regiment that already existed. The Division did NOT get to participate in the war. The Puerto Ricans who were accepted into the military were put in either black or white units according to their skin color. As we said before it was segregated. Almost none of the soldiers, from either the Regiment or the new Division, got to see any combat, and there was actually a lot of grumbling about that amongst the Puerto Ricans. They wanted to prove they were up to the task. It would have meant a lot.
Even the famous nationalist leader, Pedro Albizu Campos, volunteered for military service, and after the war ended, had THIS to say. I will quote the English translation:
“I have always believed that our participation in the European War could had been a great benefit for the people of Puerto Rico. The military organization of a people is necessary for its defense, and that is only attainable through the painful sacrifices imposed by a war. If 30,000 or 40,000 Puerto Ricans had returned from France lamed, one-eyed, or mutilated in any other way, today there would be an organized resistance that would make the American Empire respect us. The European war offered us that splendid opportunity to organize our collective value. For Puerto Rico the armistice was premature, hence recruitment contributed to the demoralization of our people.”
So even he, I mean that that statement to me is a little jarring! But that’s how they, that’s what the sentiment was in those, in those times. Anyway.
The war ended on November 11, 1918. In the end, roughly between 18,000 and 20,000 Puerto Ricans served in the military during this, the Great War.
In March of 1919, the troops returned home to San Juan after guarding the Panama Canal during World War I. At Camp Las Casas, the island’s main military training base, Major Luis R. Esteves, a West Point trailblazer, got to work training the next generation of Puerto Rican officers, setting the stage for the regiment’s future as the 65th Infantry.
On September 14, 1920, following the National Defense Act passed earlier that year, the Puerto Rico Regiment of Infantry was officially redesignated the 65th Infantry Regiment, United States Army and fully integrated into the regular U.S. Army, marking a proud milestone for the unit that would later be known as the Borinqueneers.
That’s where I want to end the timeline and we will come back to continue this. But first, I would like to shout out a few of the more well-known Puerto Ricans who served during World War I. Of course, we’re grateful for the contributions of each and every Puerto Rican who served. I wish I could say each and every name. But um, here’s a few of the people I would like to recognize
We’ll start with Dr. Dolores Piñero: the first female Puerto Rican surgeon to be contracted by the Army during WWI. It was pretty late in the game, October 1918, but she made immediate contributions, working as an anesthesiologist, in the lab, and helping open up a hospital in Ponce to care for soldiers affected by the 1918 flu epidemic. The Army also had Puerto Rican nurses whose fluency in Spanish and English helped with patient care.
Lieutenant Teófilo Marxuach: We mentioned him before, in the Odenwald incident. He was the officer of the day on that day. In some accounts, he is credited with being the person who fired the first shot of World War I by the US against the Germans.
Pedro Albizu Campos: We quoted him before, lamenting the fact that Puerto Ricans weren’t sent to the front lines. Everybody in Puerto Rico knows his name. He served as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Reserves and organized the Home Guard in Ponce before joining the regular Army. Later in his career he was an activist for Puerto Rican independence.
Brigadier General Luis R. Esteves: Again, we briefly mentioned him before. Esteves was the first Puerto Rican to graduate from West Point. He established training camps and wrote training manuals that prepared over 20,000 soldiers in Puerto Rico for the war.
Brothers Rafael and Jesús Hernández Marín: they were musicians who were recruited for the regimental band in 1917. They joined the US 369th Infantry Regiment, known as the Harlem Hell Fighters. They introduced Europe to ragtime and live jazz. At that time, the army was segregated, as I said before, even the band was segregated. The band’s members were pretty much either African American or black Puerto Rican. Fun fact: the airport in Aguadilla is named Aeropuerto Internacional Rafael Hernández.
Lieutenant Frederick Lois Riefkohl: The first Puerto Rican to graduate from the US Naval Academy (in 1911). The first Puerto Rican to receive the Navy Cross – the Navy’s 2nd highest honor – for actions in an engagement with an enemy submarine during WWI. He may actually be posthumously awarded a medal of honor though. The government is currently, as of this recording, reviewing a list of minority veterans who received not the top honor but the 2nd highest, to see if they really were deserving of the top honor but were discriminated against.
Rudolph W. Riefkohl: Frederick's brother. Rudolph participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which was the largest military offensive in US history and the final battle along the western front. He served as a Second Lieutenant in the 63rd Heavy Artillery Regiment in France. In 1919, he was part of a unit tasked with helping Poland cope with a typhus epidemic. For this, he was awarded the Polish Commemorative Medal.
Ricardo LaFontaine: From Utuado. Which is where my dad’s from! In order to register, he had to travel 30 miles to Ponce, which was really difficult in those days. He enlisted during World War I and kept re-enlisting until 1927. He was promoted to the role of corporal within the 65th Infantry Regiment (but only within his unit, which was segregated. He became an effective leader and mentor despite facing discrimination.
Montserrat Padilla: He was one of the first to enlist from Cabo Rojo. Cabo Rojo is known for many things, a couple of which we’ve actually talked about on the podcast. For example, it’s where the infamous pirate Roberto Cofresi is from (we covered his story in episodes 58 and 60). It’s also the location of the Ortiz Site, an archeological site where they found ancient skeletal remains (we cover that in episode 63 in english and 69 in spanish). Mr Padilla fought in WWI. His unit, the 307th Infantry Regiment, went to France in April 1918. Unfortunately, 4 months later, in August, he was subjected to mustard gas poisoning and had to return to Puerto Rico. Mustard gas is a chemical weapon commonly used by German forces in World War I, and causes severe blistering, respiratory damage, and long-term health issues like chronic lung problems or even cancer. Unfortunately I couldn’t find more details about him after his return to the island. I of course hope that he recovered and lived a long and healthy life.
Emiliano Mercado del Toro: A beloved jibaro, also from Cabo Rojo. He was drafted into WWI in October 1918 and was sent to Panama for basic training. He never got to see combat because the war ended the next month, and he was honorably dischared in December. We covered his very sweet story in episode 40, “Puerto Rican Supercentenarians.” After his military service, he went home to continue farming and he would become the oldest Puerto Rican ever on record! Don Emiliano was born August 21, 1891 and died January 24, 2007, which made his age 115 years and 156 days. According to gerontology.fandom.com, he was the world's oldest person for 44 days, the world's oldest man from November 19, 2004 until the day he died, and the oldest verified military veteran ever. In 1993, at age 102, he received a medal from President Bill Clinton commemorating the 75th anniversary of the signing of the truce that ended World War I.
We at BoricuameRican thank every member and veteran of the Puerto Rican and US militaries, and their families, past and present, for their service and sacrifice. Thank you for listening.
SOURCES:
https://www.valerosos.com/Honorpg1.htm
https://militaryhistoryonline.com/Modern/Borinqueneers#:~:text=Origin%20of%20the%2065th%20Infantry,Army%20on%20May%2027%2C%201908.
https://www.thirteen.org/blog-post/u-s-army-units-explained-from-squads-to-brigades-to-corps/
https://www.peermusic.com/roster/214
https://armyhistory.org/65th-infantry-regiment/
https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/puerto-rican-experience-world-war-i https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Puerto_Rico
https://sophieschiller.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-incredible-true-story-of-americas.html
https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1915Supp/d1229
https://si-siris.blogspot.com/2017/04/three-german-ships-puerto-rico-and.html
https://puertoricoreport.com/puerto-rican-war-heroes-rear-admiral-riefkohl/
https://www.house.gov/feature-stories/2016-4-14-congressional-gold-medal-ceremony-for-the-borinqueneers#:~:text=On%20April%2013%2C%202016%2C%20the,And%20they%20succeeded.%22
