List of Puerto Ricans missing in action in the Vietnam War

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POW/MIA flag

The

Missing in Action. This total, with the exception of PFC. Jose Ramon Sanchez, does not include people of Puerto Rican descent born in the mainland of the United States.[1]

Puerto Ricans have participated in every war involving the United States from World War I onward.[2]

Thousands of Puerto Ricans participated in these wars. Many lived and returned to their homeland, others were less fortunate and either died as a result of a hostile enemy action or were listed as MIA (Missing In Action). Missing In Action (abbreviated MIA) is a term (dating from 1946) referring to a member of the armed services who is reported missing following a combat mission and whose status as to injury, capture, or death is unknown. The missing combatant must not have been otherwise accounted for as either killed in action or a prisoner of war.[3] The Vietnam War was one of two wars (the other was the Korean War) which accounted for the most Puerto Ricans missing in action.[4]

Vietnam War

PFC Humberto Acosta-Rosario-MIA

The Vietnam War was between the

Prisoner of War
.

Acosta-Rosario's name was listed in the USG's (

United States Government) "Last Known Alive" list. This list was released by the U.S. Government in April 1991 and it contains the names of Prisoners of War and Missing in Action who were known to be alive in enemy hands and for whom there is no evidence that he or she died in captivity.[8]
In March 1978, Acosta-Rosario was declared dead/body not recovered based on a presumptive finding of death.

PFC. Humberto Acosta-Rosario was posthumously promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant. His name is on panel 47W, line 030 of the

Bayamon, Puerto Rico.[9]

Puerto Ricans Missing In Action

The following is a list with the names, ranks, date and place of birth and the date that the person was listed as MIA:[10]

Name Rank Date of birth Place of birth MIA Date
Acosta-Rosario, Humberto E6
Staff Sergeant
 1947-01-15January 15, 1947 Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 1978-03-01March 1, 1968
Aubain, Joseph Augustín E4.4Specialist 4 1949-10-09October 9, 1949 San Juan, Puerto Rico 1971-11-28November 28, 1971
Burgos Torres, Benjamín E3
Private First Class
 1950-08-23August 23, 1950 Cayey, Puerto Rico 1971-02-15February 15, 1971
Guzmán-Ríos, Antonio E4.4Specialist 4 1945-04-09April 9, 1945 Corozal, Puerto Rico 1968-05-12May 12, 1968
Irizarry-Hernández, Ángel E4.6Specialist 6 1943-10-02October 2, 1943
Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
 1967-10-13October 13, 1967
Kuilan, Wenceslao E6Staff Sergeant 1929-09-28September 28, 1929 Bayamón, Puerto Rico 1966-01-25January 25, 1966
Maldonado-Torres, Lionel E4Corporal 1949-04-21April 21, 1949 Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico 1968-09-17September 17, 1968
Márquez-López, Luis Manuel E7
Sergeant First Class
 1927-07-20July 20, 1927 Guayama, Puerto Rico 1967-12-13December 13, 1967
Martínez-Zayas, Rubén E4Corporal 1951-02-21February 21, 1951 Salinas, Puerto Rico 1970-08-26August 26, 1970
Medina-Torres, Vincente E8
Master Sergeant
 1925-01-22January 22, 1925 San Juan, Puerto Rico 1967-04-06April 6, 1967
Miranda-Ortiz, José Luis E6Staff Sergeant 1936-01-28January 28, 1936 Río Piedras, Puerto Rico 1967-11-30November 30, 1967
Ortiz, José Héctor O2
First Lieutenant
 1946-09-08September 8, 1946 Carolina, Puerto Rico 1970-04-29April 29, 1970
Ortiz-Rodríguez, Ángel E5Sergeant 1941-05-01May 1, 1941 Puerto Rico 1967-03-09March 9, 1967
Quiñones-Borrás, Nicholas O4Major 1935-04-30April 30, 1935
Santurce, Puerto Rico
 1972-06-05June 5, 1972
Ramos, Armando E7Sergeant First Class 1921-01-01January 1, 1921 Santurce, Puerto Rico 1966-10-04October 4, 1966
Rosado-Rodríguez, Eugenio E3Private First Class 1943-10-30October 30, 1943 Ponce, Puerto Rico 1966-07-19July 19, 1966
Sanchez, Jose Ramon E3Private First Class 1949-03-15March 15, 1949
Brooklyn, N.Y.
 1968-06-06June 6, 1968
Vadi Rodríguez, Alberto E4.5Specialist 5 1950-03-04March 4, 1950 San Juan, Puerto Rico 1972-03-17March 17, 1972
El Monumento de la Recordación

Their names are inscribed on both the Vietnam Veterans Memorial located in Washington, D.C., and in El Monumento de la Recordación (the Wall of Remembrance) located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[11][12]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Vietnam War Statistics". Veteran News Hour Daily. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  2. ^ "Jones-Shafroth Act". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  3. ^ "Definition of MIA". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  4. ^ "Puerto Rico's Proud Military History". The Puerto Rico Herald. Archived from the original on 2006-01-09. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  5. ^ John Kenneth Galbraith. "Memorandum to President Kennedy from John Kenneth Galbraith on Vietnam, 4 April 1962." The Pentagon Papers. Gravel. ed. Boston, Mass. Beacon Press, 1971, vol. 2. pp 669–671.
  6. ^ Military History Archived 2007-07-04 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved September 15, 2007
  7. ^ "Vietnam War Casualties by US Geographic Division & Region". The American War Library. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  8. ^ "Bio, Acosta-Rosario, Humberto". P.O.W. Network. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  9. ^ "In Memory of SSgt. Humberto Acosta-Rosario". The Vietnam Memorial Wall. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  10. ^ "U.S. Military Personnel Who Died (Including Missing and Captured Declared Dead) as a result of the Vietnam conflict, 1957-1995". The National Archives. Archived from the original on 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  11. ^ "Korean War Veterans Memorial". National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-09-10.
  12. ^ "Monumento de la Recordación". Rootsweb.com. Archived from the original on 2007-08-18. Retrieved 2007-09-10.

Further reading

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