Honoring Latino veterans

Millions of Latinos have served our country

Since 1954, the US Department of Veteran Affairs has been officially honoring Veteran´s on November 11^th. This month, the Illinois Latino Family Commission will honor them as well, especially those from the Latino community who fought for our country since the American Revolution.

“We have served the army since the American Revolution”, Bill Luna says. Luna served the reserves in the military from 1955 to 1961. He was in active service in Vietnam and was part of the Special Forces, known as the “Green Berets”. He describes his enlistment as a rite of passage back then, “most of my generation enlisted in the army after graduating from high school”.

Luna is an expert on the participation of the Latino community in the military. “Around 800,000 to 1 million Mexican Americans participated in World War II. Eugene Valencia shot down 23 planes and Oscar Perdomo shot down 5 in 1 day. We´ve been outstanding in every war but the official information doesn´t show how the enlistment of the Hispanic community has been crucial in every war we´ve fought”, he says. It´s Veterans who have written the stories in some books which are very difficult to find.

Veterans should know that they will not be alone, and that they have benefits when they return home. These services such as Disability Compensation, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment, Educational Assistance, Home Loans and Life Insurance are administered by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. The State of Illinois also has programs and services to assist Veterans. We will be showcasing some of these programs this month.

Veterans Services have been improving as time goes by. Some of our parents and relatives who went to Vietnam and Korea were not aware of the benefits to which they were entitled. Information was not easy to access as it is now, and many lost their benefits without notice.  

Richard Tapia, a Vietnam Veteran says that when he returned home, there was no one who would help him or his friends make the transition from military duty to civilian life: “It was supposed to magically happen. Information on benefits seemed to come indirectly, from peers in a conversation or found by accident”, he says.  Today, Tapia works at the Illinois Board of Higher Education after completing his graduate school studies, financed through loans and grants.

Latino military achievements have recently been honored. Last June, President Obama honored the 65^th Infantry Regiment known as “The borinqueneers” by giving them the Congressional Gold Medal. In Illinois, José L. Campos, a Little Village man who served in the Marines from 2002 to 2006, received the Abraham Lincoln Veteran Champion Award, given to veterans whose contributions in service to the veteran community and their local communities are outstanding. Campos has participated in a program that pairs at-risk urban youths with military veterans called “Urban Warriors”.