US Army unit made up of Puerto Ricans has strong ties to Connecticut

They were known as the Borinqueneers - a group of soldiers that joined the U.S. Army from Puerto Rico and defended the nation throughout multiple wars.

The men of the 65^th Infantry Regiment were part of the Army’s only segregated all-Hispanic unit. Since the regiment’s creation in 1899, they proudly served despite sometimes facing racial discrimination and other challenges.

The Borinqueneers also have many connections to Connecticut.

“One page and the other page,” Celestino Cordova, retired Army staff sergeant, said flipping through saved newspapers.

His memories, chronicled in the clipped articles and captured in photos, highlight just some of Cordova’s service to the country.

“When I went into military I was so proud,” he said.

He lives in New Haven now, but Cordova grew up in the small Puerto Rican beach town of Patillas. He says he surprised his parents when he enlisted not long after graduating high school.

“I didn't go to my house. I went to the Capital, San Juan,” he said.

He joined the ranks of the U.S. Army’s 65^th Infantry Regiment, composed of all soldiers from Puerto Rico and otherwise known as the Borinqueneers.

“Borinquen” is the name Puerto Rico’s native Taino people used for the island. The “eers” came from the Bucaneers, who were Spanish pirates.

After basic training, Cordova deployed in the Korean War. He recalls living with others in a tent.

“Five men in a tent,” he said.

The most impactful moment, he said, was losing roughly 50 brothers in arms.

“The most powerful moment was that Company K lost a whole platoon,” Cordova said.

His military career spanned eight years in the 1950s, as Cordova rose to the rank of staff sergeant.

“He would do surveillance in waters to see about what the enemy was doing,” Talia Aikens-Nuñez, author of “The Men of the 65th: The Borinqueneers of the Korean War,” said.

Aikens- Nuñez spent hours interviewing Cordova for her new book, just released in May. But writing “The Men of the 65th: The Borinqueneers of the Korean War,” is also personal to the New Haven author.

“My husband's grandfather, I dedicated it to him,” she said, pointing to the dedication to “Tata,” as he was known by his family. Ruben Rosas was also a Borinqueneer.

“I wanted my kids to know about this rich history and couldn't find it in books,” Aikens-Nunez said. “So then my husband said, ‘Well I guess you have to write one.’”

Her husband, Paul Nuñez, says stories from his grandfather Ruben were scarce.

“A photo of my grandfather,” he said, flipping through his phone. “A flag that was given to the family when he passed away.”

However, he says small anecdotes offered insight into sacrifice.

“There was either a missile or grenade thrown at the truck he was in, and he was severely injured,” Nuñez said. “He almost lost his life in Korea.”

Nuñez says the conversations also shed light on racial discrimination the Army’s only segregated-Hispanic unit faced.

“From systemic things, like rice and bean rations being taken away from them as punishment, to the mass court marshaling,” Nuñez said.

It is a topic Aikens-Nuñez details in her book. In 1952, 91 soldiers were court martialed and jailed after failing to take on what they saw as a suicide mission.

“There was that different treatment that they experienced,” Aikens-Nuñez said.

The Army soon pardoned them, but many soldiers died waiting for broader exoneration to clear their names.

“It's American history,” Nuñez said. “The commitment, the sacrifice, and ultimately, also the betrayal.”

From lost anecdotes captured in writing, to history etched in stone at the Borinqueneers monument in New Britain.

“The helmets represent different wars,” State Rep. Bobby Sanchez, (D) 25^th District of New Britain, said. “World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War.”

The Borinqueneers monument holds great meeting to Rep. Sanchez, thanks to another family connection. Two of his uncles from Puerto Rico served with the 65^th Regiment in the Korean War.

“It wasn't just soldiers on American soil that fought this war,” Rep. Sanchez said. “They were honored to go overseas thousands of miles to fight a war that wasn't really, not on their land.”

As Connecticut veterans pressed state leaders for a permanent tribute to the Army’s last segregated unit before servicemen were integrated, Rep. Sanchez played a fundamental role in getting the monument to the Latino soldiers built.

A groundbreaking in 2017 was followed by a ribbon cutting the next year that drew thousands.

“They of course put the gold medal of honor that was awarded to the Borinqueneers,” Rep. Sanchez says about the monument, designed by the New Britain Latino Council.

It is a tribute for the world to witness.

It comes along with a tangible honor for each living Borinqueneer, one that Cordova waited more than 60 years to receive. In 2014, he joined fellow soldiers in Washington, DC as President Barack Obama signed a bill honoring the Men of the 65^th.

“That was the pen that he signed it, the law,” Cordova said, drawing the pen out of his belongings.

That day, President Obama presented each man with the rare Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, which Cordova also keeps at his New Haven Home.

“I got it,” he said, pulling the shining medal out along with his other military accolades.

Borinqueneers, recognized after decades for their bravery on the frontlines for our country, while proudly embodying our Hispanic heritage.