The 65^th U.S. Army Infantry Regiment—also known as el sesenta y cinco de infantería, originated as a Puerto Rican outfit in the form of the Battalion of Porto Rican Volunteers (May 20, 1899) in the aftermath of the Spanish – American War of 1898. In 1908, and by then a regiment, the unit officially became part of the U.S. Army. It came to be known as the Porto Rican Regiment. During WWI the regiment was sent to the Canal Zone in Panama. In 1920, the unit’s name changed to the 65^th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army.   

The 65^th served in North Africa and Europe during World War II. Military authorities, reflecting the racial prejudice of the time, kept the regiment far from the front. The military followed a policy of racial segregation in which combat roles, with a few exceptions, were reserved for White troops. This policy had unintended consequences. As the 65^th was kept from combat it underwent all kinds of training and its men and officers dutifully prepared for war. By WWII’s end the 65th was a superbly trained and well‐disciplined combat regiment.

On June 24, 1950, war broke out in Korea. An unprepared U.S. military was hard‐pressed for battle ready units.  The 65^th was mobilized and ordered to Korea. The Borinqueneers, as the men of the 65^th were known, were going to war as first‐line combat troops. Once in Korea, the 65^th performed admirably.

The actions of the Borinqueneers during the first half of the war elevated them to iconic status‐ living proof of what Puerto Ricans could do when given the opportunity, showing they were second to none, inferior to no one. Then, tragedy struck. The replacement of highly‐trained, combat-hardened troops with poorly trained—yet enthusiastic—recruits who spoke little English; an acute dearth of bilingual sergeants; and new Continental officers that did not speak Spanish led to tragic events during the battles of Outpost Kelly and Jackson Heights in the autumn of 1952. In the spring of 1953, the Army integrated the 65^th with Continental troops and redistributed to other units the excess Puerto Rican troops. 

In 1954, the 65^th returned to Puerto Rico. The island had its regiment back, but not for long. It was deactivated in 1956. Colonel César Cordero, who had led the 65th during the tragic battle for Outpost Kelly, led a campaign that culminated with the reactivation and transfer of the 65^th from the Army to the Puerto Rico National Guard in 1959 – where it continues to serve to this day.

By Dr. Harry Franqui Rivera, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History at Bloomfield College, Bloomfield, New Jersey
Historian and Author of Soldiers of the Nation: Military Service and Modern Puerto Rico, 1868-1952 (Studies in War, Society, and the Military Series) University of Nebraska Press, 2018.