Mexican-Americans During WWII

The Second World War not only changed the political world, but socially throughout the entire world. WWII affected America and the American citizens as well; one group I would specifically like to speak about is Mexican and Hispanic groups. These two groups are often time either overlooked and not talked about; but had an important role in the American standing in the second World war. I found a very interesting essay on the reality of Mexican Americans and how the war affected the ethnic group during World War II. The Balch Institute wrote this essay for Ethnic Studies of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania; in the beginning of the essay, it begins like “World War II had an enormous impact on Latinos in the United States, including Mexican …show more content…
I would like to reference example, to show you just how the immigration rate started to increase “In Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona there was a large exodus of the population to the urban centers. California had the largest population increase, giving it a Mexican-American population equal to that of Texas” (PG 2). The increase of Hispanics coming was a great thing for the American economy and for the need for soldiers. In terms of the war the Hispanics coming to America was a benefit many of these same Hispanics went to war and worked in all types of military branches. The amount of Hispanics that joined the war is a very astonishing number for example; I would like to reference something I found on how many Hispanics joined the war from a wikipedia.org page “Between 250,000 and 500,000 Hispanic Americans served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, out of a total of 12,000,000, constituting 2.3% to 4.7% of the U.S. Armed Forces” (Page …show more content…
Another important reason why many Mexicans were got involved in World War II was because one day; two of Mexico 's oil transport vessels were attacked, then destroyed by the Germans, President Manuel Ávila Camacho of Mexico “declared war against Axis powers on 22 May 1942. 15,000 Mexican soldiers fought in the war on various fronts, and 300,000 workers were sent to the United States under the Bracero Program to replace the manpower United States lost to the front lines” (ww2db.com World War 2 database). Further more, according to a documentary called (The Forgotten Eagles- The 201st Squadron- in English) “President Camacho authorizes an Expeditionary Air Force centered on the 201st Squadron by sending 300 young volunteers for advance training with the U.S. Army Air Force” (The Forgotten Eagles- The 201st Squadron- in