‘La 65 de Infanteria Boulevard’ is the new name of Southern Boulevard in the Bronx, New York, in honor of the Puerto Rican regiment of the US Army known as “the Borinqueneers,” who are veterans of World War I, World War II, and the Korean War.
More than 20,000 Puerto Ricans served as Borinqueneers since World War I, where most of them served during the Korean War.
“Co-naming Southern Blvd. ‘La 65 de Infanteria Blvd.’ is an honorable recognition that the ‘Borinqueneers’ truly deserve for their brilliant record of heroism on the battlefield,” says Ruben Diaz Jr., President of the Bronx Borough. “Thousands of Puerto Ricans, many of which live right here in God’s country the Bronx, have served courageously as ‘Borinqueneers’ since World War I. The Bronx honors and thanks them for their sacrifices and service to our country and offers its eternal gratitude.”
According to the Korean War Casualty Database, there were 732 Puerto Rican casualties in the Korean War, or one in every 42 U.S. casualties was a Puerto Rican.
“This recognition is huge to honor this American Army,” says Eugenio Quevedo, former Borinqueneer who served in the Korean War from 1950 to 1956. “It’s 60 years later, but it makes me very happy.”
Noemi Figueroa Soulet, who had worked on a documentary about the Borinqueneers for nearly a decade, is also happy of the recognition.
“For some people it might mean a small measure of recognition, but it didn’t exist before so it’s important,” says Soulet. “I think that more and more things like this are happening all over the country. In Florida, they named a park in the name of the 65th, in Buffalo they are making a Hispanic-American monument where they’ll be making a plaque for the 65th. I think that’s wonderful, don’t you?”
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