60 years after Korea, a forgotten Latino regiment seeks Congressional Gold Medal

By Barry Carter, Star-Ledger

PERTH AMBOY — The phone rang for months, but Ervin Machado wouldn’t answer.

It was Noemi Figueroa Soulet, a persistent filmmaker, leaving another message at his home in Perth Amboy. She was after him to share his story, one he never talked about and wanted to leave on the battlefield in Korea.

Machado, 81, was a member of the Borinqueneers, the segregated 65th Infantry Regiment of Puerto Rican soldiers that fought bravely and longer than some combat units in the Korean War.

“It was so sad to talk about things that I saw with my own people dying next to me,’’ he said.

The Borinqueneers are still a little-known story in military history, their valor not widely recognized until Soulet’s 2007 documentary.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Image “The Boriqueneers” by The National Guard]

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