There were over 500,000 Latinos and 900,000 African Americans that served in the Military during World War II. For Latinos the exact is unknown since the Latino race was not segregated into different groups when they joined the service.
When the war started Latinos were among those who enlisted, once they signed one they went on to serve in Europe, North African and the Mediterranean just to name a few; they went on to receive many medals of honor for their service. The 158th Regimental team was made up of a large percentage of Latinos, and when they fought New Guinea and the Philippines, General Mac Arthur was so impressed he called them “the greatest fighting combat team ever deployed in battle”. Their native language became very important
…show more content…
They were able to find jobs as nurses, Red Cross Aids, Interpreters, linguists and even enroll in the Marine Corps Women Reserve. For those Latinos in the home front, both men and women were able to find jobs as miners, working on the railroads and agricultural labor; these were only a few of them. There were plenty of jobs available for the Latino community so much so that the United States government established a program that would allow 125,000 Mexicans to work as guests for the United States; this would help fill the shortage of manual labor. These guests would be a crucial part of the economy during the war. Much like the Latino culture, African Americans also rushed to enroll in the military, this was an opportunity to escape poverty during the Great Depression, but unlike the rest of the Americans joining the Army, blacks were segregated into their own separate infantry with a white commander assigned to them. The Navy allowed African Americans to enlist as well but would also segregate them and would only give them jobs that require minimal skills on the ships. Marines were one of the toughest ones, they did not allow black to enlist at the beginning of the war, and once they were allowed to enlist they were also kept separate