The following list has the names of distinguished Puerto Ricans, and non-Puerto Rican veterans who have made Puerto Rico their home, who served in the US military and are interred there. •
Medal of Honor recipients •
Fernando Luis García Ledesma (1929–1952), PFC, US Marine Corps. García Ledesma was the first Puerto Rican awarded the Medal of Honor (
cenotaph). •
Juan E. Negrón-Martínez (1929–1996), Master Sergeant, US Army. Negrón, a member of the
65th Infantry Regiment, was awarded the medal posthumously. •
Eurípides Rubio (1938–1966), Captain, US Army. Recipient for his actions in the
Vietnam War. • Others •
Bailey K. Ashford, Colonel, US Army.
Spanish–American War veteran, doctor,
parasitologist, author. A pioneering physician, Ashford organized and conducted a parasite treatment campaign, which cured approximately 300,000 persons (one-third of the Puerto Rico population) and reduced the death rate from this anemia by 90 percent. •
Carlos Betances Ramírez, Colonel, US Army. Betances Ramírez was the only Puerto Rican to command a Battalion in the Korean War. Section K, Site 3030. •
Modesto Cartagena, Sergeant First Class, US Army. Served in the 65th Infantry Regiment, an all-Puerto Rican regiment also known as "The Borinqueneers", during World War II and the Korean War. He was the most decorated Puerto Rican soldier in history. •
Carlos Fernando Chardón, Major General, US Army.
Puerto Rico Adjutant General from 1969 to 1973. Chardon was also the
Secretary of State of Puerto Rico from 1969 to 1973 •
Virgilio N. Cordero, Jr., Brigadier General, US Army. Battalion Commander of the 31st Infantry Regiment. He documented his experiences as a prisoner of war and his participation in the infamous
Bataan Death March of
World War II. •
Juan César Cordero Dávila, Major General, US Army. Cordero Dávila was the commanding officer of the
65th Infantry Regiment during the
Korean War, rising to become one of the highest ranking ethnic officers in the United States Army. •
Efrain Figueroa-Melendez, Staff Sergeant, US Army. Figueroa-Melendez, awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, was a member of Company D, 3d Battalion,
8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. On three occasions Staff Sergeant Figueroa-Melendez purposely drew communist volleys on himself to permit his men to draw back to protected positions. Plot: E 563. •
César Luis González, First Lieutenant, US Air Force. During World War II, González became the first pilot from Puerto Rico to fly for the
US Army Air Corps and one of the first Puerto Ricans to die in combat during that conflict. He was posthumously promoted to 1st. Lt. •
Mihiel "Mike" Gilormini, Brigadier General, US Air Force. A World War II hero, was the recipient of 5 Distinguished Flying Cross's and co-founder of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard. Gilormini had previously flown for the
Royal Canadian Air Force (1941) and the
Royal Air Force (1941–1942). •
Gilberto José Marxuach, Colonel, US Army. Son of Teofilo Marxuach. He is known as "The Father of the San Juan Civil Defense". Plot: C 60. •
Teófilo Marxuach, Lieutenant Colonel, US Army. Ordered the first shot fired in World War I on behalf of the United States on an armed German supply ship trying to force its way out of the
San Juan Bay. •
Alberto A. Nido, Brigadier General, US Air Force. World War II hero who co-founded the Puerto Rico Air National Guard and served as its commander for many years. •
Ramón Núñez-Juárez (1931–1952), PFC, US Marine Corps. Recipient of the
Navy Cross in the Korean War (
cenotaph). •
Agustín Ramos Calero, Sergeant First Class, US Army. Ramos Calero, with 22 military decorations, was the most decorated Hispanic soldier in all of the United States during World War II. •
Charlie Robles, Puerto Rican singer and actor who served with the U.S. ARMY during the
Vietnam War period. •
Augusto Rodríguez, Lieutenant, United States Union Army. Rodríguez served in the American Civil War in the defenses of Washington, D.C., and led his men in the Battles of Fredericksburg and Wyse Fork. • Lizbeth Robles, SPC, US Army. First Puerto Rican female soldier born in Puerto Rico to die in Iraq. •
Antonio Rodríguez Balinas, Brigadier General, US Army. Rodríguez Balinas was the first commander of the Office of the First US Army Deputy Command. •
Antulio Segarra, Colonel, US Army. In 1943, Segarra became the first Puerto Rican Regular Army officer to command a Regular Army Regiment when he assumed the command of Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment which at the time was conducting security missions in the jungles of Panama. Plot: A, Row 0, Site 353. •
Pedro Vázquez Rivera, Captain, US Marine Corps. Vázquez Rivera was an attorney and engineer who served as
Puerto Rico's eighth
Secretary of State from 1979 to 1981 under Governor
Carlos Romero Barceló, Deputy Mayor of
San Juan, Puerto Rico from 1984 to 1988 under Mayor
Baltasar Corrada del Rio and executive director of the publicly owned
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) from 1977 to 1979. • Frances M. Vega, SPC, US Army. First stateside born Puerto Rican female soldier to die in a war.
Others • Members of the Otero family murdered by serial killer
Dennis Rader: • Joseph Otero, Sergeant, US Army. • Julie Otero, wife of Joseph Otero • Josephine Otero, daughter of Joseph and Julie Otero • Joseph Otero II, son of Joseph and Julie Otero • John Ernest Sayle,
British Merchant Marine crewmember killed during World War II; one of three gravesites of
British Commonwealth servicemen buried in Puerto Rico administered by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. • Captain Elwood Palmes Walmsley,
Royal Air Force pilot killed during World War II; one of three gravesites of British Commonwealth servicemen buried in Puerto Rico administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. • Navigator George Federic Johnston, Royal Air Force ferry command killed during World War II; one of three gravesites of British Commonwealth servicemen buried in Puerto Rico administered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Gallery of notable interments ==See also==