Puerto Ricans in World War I

Teófilo Marxuach

Pedro Albizu Campos

Luis R. Esteves

Frederick Lois Riefkohl

Rudolph W. Riefkohl

Rafael Hernández (left)

Engagements

• Atlantic
• Mediterranean
• Pacific
• Western Front
• Southern Front

Puerto Ricans and people of Puerto Rican descent have participated as members of the United States Armed Forces in every conflict in which the United States has been involved since World War I.

One of the consequences of the Spanish–American War was that Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898, ratified on December 10, 1898. On January 15, 1899, the military government changed the name of Puerto Rico to Porto Rico. (On May 17, 1932, the US Congress changed the name back to "Puerto Rico".)^[1] On March 21, 1915, the first shots by the United States in World War I were fired by the Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry from Castillo San Felipe del Morro at a German merchant ship in San Juan Bay.^[2] US Citizenship was extended to the political body known as Porto Rican citizens via the Jones–Shafroth Act of 1917, (the Puerto Rican House of Delegates had rejected an earlier bill in 1914 because it did not include universal male suffrage). Even though Puerto Ricans were "American" nationals since 1900 (due the Foraker Act) which made them eligible for the Selective Service Draft lottery, they were excluded from the initial draft law. The Puerto Rican legislature and local leaders demanded that Puerto Ricans were included in the draft and allowed to fight in the war.^[3] Puerto Ricans who resided on the island had been serving as volunteers in the "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry," dating back to 1899. As was the case nationwide and under Spanish control, the Puerto Rican units created during WWI (the 94th Infantry Division) were racially segregated. Puerto Ricans of African descent where assigned to the 375th Regiment which was part of the 94th Infantry Division which was the Puerto Rican contribution to what came to be known as the National Army.^[4]

Those who resided in the mainland served in regular units of one of the following branches of the United States military, the United States Marine Corps, Army or the Navy. As such, they were assigned to regular military units; however, Puerto Ricans of African descent were assigned to segregated all-black units and were subject to the discrimination which was rampant in the US in those days.^[5]

It is estimated that 236,000 Puerto Ricans in the island registered for the World War I draft and that 18,000 served in the war.^[6] It is, however, impossible to determine the exact number of Puerto Ricans residing on the United States mainland who served and perished in the war because the War Department did not keep statistics in regard to the ethnicity of its members.^[7]