The 65th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed "The Borinqueneers" during the Korean War for the original Arawak Native Taino name for Puerto Rico (Borinquen), is a Puerto Rican regiment of the United States Army. The regiment's motto is Honor et Fidelitas, Latin for Honor and Fidelity. The Army Appropriation Bill created by an act of Congress on 2 March 1899 authorized the creation of the first body of native troops in Puerto Rico. On 30 June 1901, the "Porto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry" was organized. On 1 July 1908, Congress incorporated the regiment into the Regular Army as the Puerto Rico Regiment of Infantry, United States Army. On 14 May 1917, the regiment was activated and additional men were assigned, with the unit being sent to serve at Panama. On 4 June 1920, the regiment was renamed 65th Infantry. During World War II, the regiment saw action throughout Europe, especially France and Germany, participating in Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno and Rhin. Several Purple Hearts were awarded posthumously to members of the 65th Regiment.
The 65th Infantry Regiment participated in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Global War on Terrorism. On 10 June 2014, the 65th Infantry was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Puerto Ricans have participated in many of the military conflicts in which the United States has been involved. For example, they participated in the American Revolutionary War, when volunteers from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico enlisted in the Spanish Army in 1779 and fought under the command of General Bernardo de Gálvez (1746–1786), and have continued to participate up to the present-day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Puerto Rico became a U.S. Territory after the 1898 Treaty of Paris which ended the Spanish–American War. The United States appointed a military governor and soon the United States Army established itself in San Juan.
On 2 March 1899, the Army received an assignation of funds and authorization meant to formally organize troops in Puerto Rico. On 24 March 1899, the General Commander of the Puerto Rico Department, Mayor General Guy V. Henry ordered the creation of the Porto Rico Battalion of Volunteer Infantry. Formed by four companies named A through D and assigned to San Juan, Mayagüez and Ponce, the unit was activated on 20 May 1899, led by Major Lorenzo Davinson. Shortly afterwards, each company received additional men for a total of 112. Major Ebon Swift replaced Davison as commander. The formalization of this move was notified in General Order 65, issued by the new General Commander Gen. George Davis. On 12 February 1900, the Mounted Battalion was organized and both were later designated Porto Rico Regiment, U.S. Volunteers. The following year, the units were renamed Porto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry. The Band and First Battalion were sent to Washington on 4 March 1901, to participate in the inauguration of McKinley.
On 1 July 1901, the United States Senate passed a bill which would require a strict mental and physical examination for those who wanted to join the regiment. It also approved the recruitment of native Puerto Rican civilians to be appointed the grade of second lieutenants for a term of four years if they passed the required tests. On 23 April 1904, Congress authorized the recruitment of the local population as second lieutenants, leading to the recognition of Jaime Nadal, Henry Rexach, Pedro Parra, Eduardo Iriarte, Teofilo Marxuach, Eugenio Carlos de Hostos, Luis Emmanuelli and Pascual López. In 1905, one of its battalions was sent to March along the First a Brigade of the First Division of the Regular Army during Roosevelt's inauguration. An act of Congress, approved on 27 May 1908, reorganized the regiment as part of the "regular" Army and the "Porto Rico Provisional Regiment of Infantry" was renamed "Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry". Since the native Puerto Rican officers were Puerto Rican citizens and not citizens of the United States, they were required to undergo a new physical examination to determine their fitness for commissions in the Regular Army and to take an oath of U.S. citizenship with their new officers oath. By 30 January 1917, the Porto Rico Regiment of Infantry was training in Camp Las Casas which was located in Santurce, a section of San Juan in what is now Residencial Las Casas.
Different units of the regiment were stationed at other forts throughout the island under the command of William P. Burnham. Lieutenant Teófilo Marxuach, the officer of the day, was stationed at El Morro Castle at San Juan Bay on 21 March 1915. The Odenwald, built in 1903 (not to be confused with the German World War II war ship which carried the same name), was an armed German supply ship which tried to force its way out of the San Juan Bay and deliver supplies to the German submarines waiting in the Atlantic Ocean. Marxuach gave the order to open fire on the ship from the walls of the fort. Sergeant Encarnación Correa then manned a machine gun and fired warning shots with little effect.
Marxuach fired a warning shot from a cannon located at the Santa Rosa battery of El Morro fort, in what is considered to be the first shot of World War I fired by the regular armed forces of the United States against a ship flying the colors of the Central Powers, forcing the Odenwald to stop and to return to port where its supplies were confiscated.
The Odenwald was confiscated by the United States and renamed SS Newport News. It was assigned to the U.S. Shipping Board, where it served until 1924 when it was retired.
Puerto Ricans were unaccustomed to the racial segregation policies of the United States which were also implemented in Puerto Rico, and often refused to designate themselves as "white" or "black". Puerto Ricans of African descent were assigned to all-black units. In 1916, the Third Battalion and the companies of service and machine-guns were integrated into the regiment.
When the United States declared war against Germany, the regiment was transferred to the regular Army and on 3 May 1917, recruited 1,969 men, considered at that time as war strength.
On 14 May 1917, the regiment was sent to Panama in defense of the Panama Canal Zone. The regiment returned to Puerto Rico in March 1919.
The regiment was stationed at San Juan as of June 1919. During this period, a young Puerto Rican Regular Army officer, Major Luis R. Esteves, was sent to Camp Las Casas to serve as an instructor to Puerto Rican officers; in the future, Esteves would become known as the "Father of the Puerto Rican National Guard". The regiment was redesignated the 65th Infantry Regiment on 14 September 1920; it was numbered in succession of the sixty-four regiments of Regular Army infantry originally authorized by the National Defense Act of 1916. In 1923, the 65th provided personnel to the newly created 42nd Infantry Regiment; the personnel of the 65th rotated on four-year tours with the personnel of the 42nd in Panama, until the latter unit was inactivated in 1927. The mobilization assignment of the 65th Infantry from 1922-28 was to reinforce the Panama Canal Division's 20th Infantry Brigade in the Canal Zone. The regiment was ordered to perform emergency relief work in the vicinity of Cayey—San Juan after a major hurricane struck the island on 12 September 1928. As part of this mission, units of the regiment rebuilt the road from Cayey to San Juan from 13 September to 1 December 1928. The 3rd Battalion was inactivated 31 July 1931 at Henry Barracks. Concurrently, the 1st Battalion was transferred to Henry Barracks. Company D was awarded the Edwin Howard Clark trophy for machine gun marksmanship for 1937. Assigned Reserve officers conducted summer training with the regiment at Camp Buchanan, and also conducted infantry Citizens Military Training Camps at Camp Buchanan in 1938 and 1939. The regiment embarked on the battleship USS Wyoming to St. Croix and St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands, as part of a joint defensive exercise from 8 December 1939–7 January 1940. The regiment was transferred on 1 February 1940, less the 1st and 2nd Battalions, to Fort Buchanan. The 3rd Battalion was concurrently activated at Fort Buchanan and the 1st Battalion was transferred to Borinquen Field.