infosoldier.com

Photo: The New York Draft Riots were involved the newly arriving Irish Catholic immigrants. They were taken off the boats from Ireland to be used as cannon fodder. Use the link to read the full story. "...The Korean War was perhaps the last conflict in which patriotism for certain troops was questioned. The case in point is the 65th Regiment from Puerto Rico. It was one of the most highly decorated units when the conflict began, but was disbanded on charges that deserve retraction. However, even though most of the Puerto Ricans in the troops called "The Borinqueneers" were Catholic - the Cross of Malta from the Knights of St. John was their insignia - the discrimination was more because they were Latino than because of religion..." Memory of the Irish Battalion stirred fear during the U.S. Civil War and Lincoln went out of his way to cultivate Catholic bishops like John Hughes of New York in order to forestall rebellion in the ranks. In retrospect, the ability of the North to refurbish the troops with freshly recruited Irish Catholics right off the boat contributed mightily to the eventual Union victory. The fears of divided Catholic loyalties were also a preoccupation with the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898. Already patriotic, the U.S. Catholic Bishops formed a Catholic organization to urge enlistment to the army and support from Catholics for the war. This pattern continued during the First World War when fear of defection shifted from Catholics as Catholics, to caution about German-Americans in the army. Likewise, African-American soldiers were held to disrespect and suspicion. [Open above link to read full posting... by Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo on July 3, 2008 10:40 AM]