page_title: Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps
section_title: Vietnam War
hierarchical_section_title: Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps / Vietnam War
caption_attribution_description: Emilio A. De La Garza, USMC, Medal of Honor recipient; hi-res image from the Marine Corps History Division - http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/IMAGES/MOH/Vietnam_War/Hi_Res/Delagraza_EA.jpg
context_page_description: Hispanics in the United States Marine Corps, such as Private France Silva who during the Boxer Rebellion became the first Marine of the thirteen Marines of Hispanic descent to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and Private First Class Guy Gabaldon who is credited with capturing over 1,000 enemy soldiers and civilians during World War II, have distinguished themselves in combat. Hispanics have participated as members of the United States Marine Corps in the Boxer Rebellion, World War I, the American intervention in Latin America also known as the Banana Wars, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and most recently in the military campaigns of Afghanistan and Iraq.
  Hispanics are also reaching the top ranks of the Marine Corps, serving their country in sensitive leadership positions on domestic and foreign shores, with generals such as Major General Angela Salinas and Lieutenant General Pedro del Valle. Many Hispanic Marines went on to distinguished careers outside of the military in different fields such as sports and space exploration.
  Hispanics in the Marine Corps account for the largest minority group of that military institution.
context_section_description: The Marine Corps served an important role in the Vietnam War by participating in such battles as Da Nang, Hue City, and Khe Sanh. Individuals from the USMC operated in the Northern I Corps Regions of South Vietnam. While there, they were constantly engaged in a guerrilla war against the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF) and an intermittent conventional war against the North Vietnamese Army (NVA). The U.S. government did not begin keeping separate statistics on Hispanics until 1979. Therefore, the exact number of Hispanics who served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War era is unknown. The statistics that were kept by the Department of Defense, in accordance to the Vietnam War Statistics, included Hispanics among Caucasians. However, it is estimated that 170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam and that 3,070 (5.2% of total) died there. This total includes those who served in the Marines. Of the 57 Medals of Honor awarded to Marines for actions during the Vietnam War, six were awarded to Marines of Hispanic descent, of which five were posthumous awards. The six Marines were Sergeant Alfredo "Freddy" Gonzalez, Major Jay R. Vargas Jr., Lance Corporal Jose Francisco Jimenez, PFC Ralph E. Dias, Lance Corporal Emilio A. De La Garza and Lance Corporal Miguel Keith. Of the 360 Navy Crosses awarded to the Marines, 19 were awarded to men of Hispanic descent.
  Corporal Angel Mendez (1946–1967) was among the many men who volunteered to join the Marine Corps right after graduating from high school. He was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division on March 16, 1967, and conducting a search and destroy mission with his company when his company came under attack from a Viet Cong battalion. Half of a platoon was pinned down under enemy fire, and Mendez volunteered to lead a squad to assist the pinned-down Marines in returning to friendly lines with their two dead and two seriously wounded. Mendez exposed himself and opened fire on the enemy. His platoon commander, Lieutenant Ronald Castille, was seriously wounded and he fell, unable to move. Mendez shielded him with his body as he applied a dressing to the wound, he picked up the lieutenant and started to carry him to friendly lines, which were more than seventy-five meters away. Mendez was hit in the shoulder, yet he chose to act as rear man and he continued to shield his lieutenant with his own body until he was mortally wounded. Mendez was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and promoted to sergeant.
  Sergeant Alfredo "Freddy" Gonzalez (1946–1968) served two tours in Vietnam. He was the platoon commander of Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, United States Marine Corps. On February 4, 1968, Sgt. Gonzalez and his platoon engaged the Viet Cong, who were holed up in St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Hue City, firing at the Americans with rockets and automatic weapons. Almost single-handedly, Sgt. Gonzalez neutralized the enemy with a barrage of LAW rockets. When it became quiet, it was thought that all of the Viet Cong inside the church had been killed. However, one had survived, and he shot and killed Sgt. Gonzalez.
  On April 30, 1968, Captain Jay R. Vargas, who was the commander of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, was sent with his men to an area around the village of Dai Do where two other Marine companies were in a battle with a North Vietnamese Army regiment. Even though Company G hadn’t slept for thirty-six hours, they went ashore at about one in the afternoon. The enemy attacked his men and had one of his platoons pinned down. Vargas went to rescue his platoon with a reserve platoon and was wounded by a grenade. He was able to take out three machine guns nests by himself before leading his men in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy soldiers in the nearby village.
  He believed that he and his men had secured Dai Do and wasn't expecting a sudden massive counterattack by the NVA. Company G took cover in the village cemetery and the fight raged through the night. The next morning, the bodies of mo
caption: Emilio A. De La Garza
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