During the Korean War period, Hispanic Americans honorably served during the conflict. Five Hispanic American Marines posthumously received the Medal of Honor for their actions on the peninsula. One of the five, First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez, USMC, received the award for his actions during the Inchon landing. In October 1955, Horacio Riverio was promoted to Rear Admiral and assigned to monitor the H-bomb program as the Deputy Chief of the Armed Forcces Special Weapons Project. Hispanic Women continued to serve in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps with Seaman Juanita Mancillas being one example of many who continued to serve their country.
Continuing the civil rights progress with other ethnically diverse Americans in the United States during this time, Hispanic Americans continued to expand in the U.S. Navy and Marines. During this period, four Hispanic American U.S. Marines received the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor, with three of them posthumously receiving the award. Recipient Colonel Jay R. Vargas, USMC, survived his service in Vietnam and returined from the U.S. Marines in 1992 after completing thirty-years of service. In 1964, Vice Admiral Horacio Rivero was promoted to full admiral and served as Commander in Chief of Allied Forces, Southern Europe until 1972 when he retired after forty-one years of service. In January 1967, Hospitalman Phil I. Valdez, USN, was serving as a corpsman in Vietnam. Continuing to aid a wounded Marine, Valdez was mortially wounded. He was posthumously promoted and received the Navy Cross. Additionally, USS Valdez (FF-1096) was named in his honor.
In the 1970s, the Navy developed and implemented an affirmative action plan to recruit Hispanic Americans. With the Vietnam War continuing into the decade, Hispanic Americans also continued to serve in the conflict. Two U.S. Marines posthumously received the Medal of Honor for their actions during the spring of 1970. Of note, in March 1973, Lieutenant Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr. was released from captivity as a Prisoner of War in Vietnam. During this period, LIeutenant Al Cisneros became fhe first Hispanic pilot to serve with the Blue Angels. In 1979, Secretary of the Navy Edward Hidalgo became the first Hispanic American to serve in this appointed post. Secretary Hidalgo promoted the recruitment of Hispanics for both officers and enlisted alike.
Other Resources:
NMUSN Hispanic Americans in the U.S. Navy Pamphlet
NHHC Hispanic Americans in the U.S. Navy Focus
Image: 428-GX-USN-1155656: Hanoi, North Vietnam. February 1973. American Prisoners of War waiting to board a C-141A "Starlifter". Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
FAQs
The United States saw Korea still divided and a North Vietnamese takeover of the South. Moreover, U.S. presidents presided over the expansion of both wars in other directions. Vietnam became an extension of the Korean War, at least in the minds of U.S. leaders; and the war in Vietnam engulfed both Laos and Cambodia.
What major war happened in the 1970s? ›
With the Vietnam War continuing into the decade, Hispanic Americans also continued to serve in the conflict. Two U.S. Marines posthumously received the Medal of Honor for their actions during the spring of 1970.
What happened in Vietnam in 1970s? ›
The Vietnam War pitted communist North Vietnam and the Viet Cong against South Vietnam and the United States. The war ended when U.S. forces withdrew in 1973 and Vietnam unified under Communist control two years later.
What was the Korean conflict in the 1970s? ›
In the 1970s, despite the 1953 truce, there were still 42,000 American troops stationed in South Korea, and conflicts between North and South occasionally flared up in the DMZ. By 1976, the death toll from these scuffles had reached 49 Americans and 1,000 Koreans.
What was the Korean army massacre in Vietnam? ›
The Bình mai Massacre was a massacre allegedly perpetrated by South Korean forces on 9 October 1966 of 29-168 civilians in Bình Tai village of Bình Định Province in South Vietnam.
Why were Korean soldiers feared in Vietnam? ›
South Korean units were as tough and professional as any in the United States Army or Marines, and came to be justly feared by the communists.
What ended the Vietnam War in 1975? ›
Having rebuilt their forces and upgraded their logistics system, North Vietnamese forces triggered a major offensive in the Central Highlands in March 1975. On April 30, 1975, NVA tanks rolled through the gate of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, effectively ending the war.
Was there still fighting in Vietnam in 1973? ›
Nixon's plan worked and in early January 1973, the Americans and North Vietnamese ironed out the last details of the settlement. All parties to the conflict, including South Vietnam, signed the final agreement in Paris on January 27. As it turned out, only America honored the cease-fire.
Who won the 1975 Vietnam War? ›
1975 marked the end of the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched the Spring Offensive in March; the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was quickly defeated. The North Vietnamese captured Saigon on April 30, accepting the surrender of South Vietnam.
Who actually won the Korean War? ›
After three years of fighting, the war ended in a stalemate with the border between North and South Korea near where it had been at the war's beginning.
Concerned that the Soviet Union and Communist China might have encouraged this invasion, President Harry S. Truman committed United States air, ground, and naval forces to the combined United Nations forces assisting the Republic of Korea in its defense.
What caused the Vietnam War to start? ›
After North Vietnamese torpedo boats alledgedly attacked the U.S.S. Maddox and U.S.S. Turner Joy in the Gulf of Tonkin, President Johnson ordered the retaliatory bombing of military targets in North Vietnam.
How are the Korean War and Vietnam War similar? ›
Some of the similarities are striking. In both Vietnam and Korea the Communist and Western powers had divided their cold war ambitions by making two countries out of one, artificially setting the boundary along a mythical line of latitude.
What did the Korean War lead to? ›
Impact of the Korean War
The Korean War armistice, signed on July 27, 1953, drew a new border between North Korea and South Korea, granting South Korea some additional territory and demilitarizing the zone between the two nations. A formal peace treaty was never signed. Over 2.5 million people died in the Korean War.
How did the Korean War become an American war? ›
Truman and his advisors found themselves under increased domestic pressure not to appear "soft" on communism abroad. Thus, when North Korean troops invaded the South, the Truman administration seized upon the opportunity to defend a non-communist government from invasion by communist troops.
