The 65th did a blocking action, enabling the Marines to withdraw. Soldiers of the 65th were not accustomed to the bitter cold of Korea in December, said Congressman Carlos Romero-Barcelo, resident commissioner for Puerto Rico. Just days after their ship came into the Pusan harbor in September 1950, infantrymen of the 65th engaged the enemy, Romero-Barcelo said, adding that they were often in the thick of fighting until the end of the war in 1953. He said that although President Truman had ordered integration of the armed forces almost two years earlier, units were still segregated when the Korean War began. Gen. Rodriguez-Balinas of the 65th was also read at the ceremony.
Veterans are grateful for the change of attitude.
The general had planned to be at the ceremony, but could not make it due to being hospitalized earlier this week in Puerto Rico, according to a spokesman. His statement went on to say that 8 percent of all the American infantrymen who fought in Korea were Puerto Ricans. Today the National Guard newspaper in Puerto Rico is called the Borinqueneer. And the 92nd Brigade of the Puerto Rican National Guard, Schultz said, carries on the lineage of the 65th Infantry. Find people you served with in the military.