In 1950, the 65th was once again called upon and so they set off to Korea. It was during this time that the 65th Infantry soldiers began to call themselves the Borinqueneers. In Korea, the Borinqueneers were faced with many hardships and suffered many casualties; throughout this they remained determined even supporting a mission that allowed encircled Marines to return to their ships safely. They participated in many battles and operations each time fighting valiantly.
Unfortunately, mass court martials would come to many Borinqueneers. Due to language barriers, humiliation and exhaustion, many Borinqueneers refused to fight. They were even ordered to stop calling themselves the Borinqueneers. All this after the hispanic commander of the unit was relieved and replaced with a non-hispanic commander. The largest court martial of the Korean War, ninety six court martials and ninety one found guilty and sentenced to hard labor. All those involved were quickly granted clemency and pardons but never formally exonerated.
In all, the Borinqueneers are credited with participating in nine campaigns. Numerous medals were awarded to the men for their valor during these campaigns. 61,000 Puerto Ricans served during the Korean War, 756 lost their lives. More than half of those who lost their lives were from the 65th Infantry Regiment, Borinqueneers .
From the articles I have read about the Borinqueneers, during the time of the court martial issue, they ran out of ammunition in Korea where they were located and did not get the requested ammunition and had no artillery air support, they requested it many times from higher ranking commander and it never came!
