“They served and fought and died,
So that we might be safe and free;
Grace them, O Lord, eternal peace
And give them victory.”
—Poem Written for the Lorain Memorial
Introduction
The thud of heavy artillery shattered the silence of the Western Front on Dec. 6, 1944; in a major counteroffensive Hitler’s forces rained artillery and rockets on the American positions, rupturing the lines and creating a bulge along the Allied front. Thus began the Battle of the Bulge, the largest land engagement of World War II, in which 500,000 Americans, 55,000 British, and 600,000 Germans participated. German forces retreated Jan. 28, 1945, crippled by 100,000 casualties; American losses were also horrific at 81,000 casualties with 19,000 killed in action. Among the dead was seemingly an anomaly: Private First Class Francisco Dominguez, of Lorain, Ohio.
The city of Lorain had been a hidden pocket of Mexican culture since World War I and although the Hispanic population had dwindled from more than 1,300 in 1920 to 218 by the 1940 census, 34 Hispanics answered the call to military service in World War II. Of these participants, both Dominguez and Frederick Rios lost their lives. Numerous other Hispanics from Lorain County also participated, of whom at least two others were killed in action; but these numbers include only those with Hispanic surnames. Because the military did not discern between Hispanic and white soldiers, tracking those who are of Hispanic descent has always been a challenge. The best estimates contend that between 200,000 and 500,000 Hispanics participated in World War II nationally, but such a wide margin makes it difficult to make an accurate approximation. Regardless, even lower estimates betray the great extent to which Hispanics both volunteered and conceded to service; few communities volunteered in greater proportions than Lorain, Ohio.
According to a 1985 report based on the 1979 census, 22.3 percent of the eligible Hispanic male populations were veterans of foreign wars. Involvement was highest among the Mexican population, which sent a staggering 25.2 percent, just over one quarter of its eligible population, to war during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The Puerto Rican population, which arrived at Lorain in large numbers after World War II, sent 18.1 percent, Cubans 15.1 percent, and individuals categorized as Other Spanish sent an impressive 22.8 percent of its population into harm’s way. It becomes easier to understand how Private Dominguez ended up sacrificing his life at the Battle of the Bulge when considering these numbers. As one citizen of Lorain notes, “Although they comprised less than .004 percent of the population of Lorain, almost 10 percent of the Mexican community fought in the war.” This 10 percent rate is nearly identical to the proportion (11 percent) of Ohio residents overall who fought in WWII.
I - Early Immigration to Lorain, Ohio
The first Mexicans reached Lorain via the B&O Railroad Company in 1921; evidence of railroad line’s influence on population dispersal is even displayed by today’s population distribution, which follows the lines from Pennsylvania to Chicago. A recent newspaper article noted, “Mexicans were sought to work on railroad lines and in steel mills as early as 1914 but came to the Midwest in greater numbers after the war started.” The steel mill recruited and brought 1,300 Mexican males to Lorain in 1924, which caused a major spike in the Ohio Mexican population. This singular migration of 1,300 more than doubled the Mexican population in the state of Ohio.
Socially, the Mexican community in Lorain did encounter resistance during the days of early settlement. One Mexicano remembered, “When we started to date, some of my friends who dated Anglos denied they were Mexican and said they were Italian. The parents of Anglo girls would not let them date Mexicans.” Another Mexicana recalled, “I joined a group at the Y.M.C.A. and got along very well with the other girls for about two weeks. One day my new 'friend' asked me what nationality I was, when I told her ‘Mexican’ she said, ‘Oh, I thought you were something else.’ Within the next few weeks I got the feeling I was somehow different from the other girls.” Economically, Mexicans remained employed as general laborers before WWII, with but a few gaining promotions.
Still, public histories maintain that the level of discrimination in Lorain was relatively low, compared to other areas in the nation, and available literature supports this contention. Many attribute this to the international makeup of the county, which housed some 30 different ethnic groups, but really the discrimination was only mild for Hispanics when compared to the racism African Americans were experiencing. Comparatively, the Mexican community in Lorain was nominally well-off.
For World War II veteran Jesse Gutierrez, it seemed foolish to think that discrimination could be avoided: “It is normal for people to disagree, they are from different colors. We had all sorts of cultures here. Not everyone can get along with everyone.” Whatever the nature of discrimination in Lorain may have been early on, the coming of The Great Depression led to resentment against Mexican people, who were thought to be taking jobs from Americans throughout the United States. Nationally, Mexicans immigration collapsed from an average 100,000 annually between 1920 and 1930 to an anemic 2,500 a year from 1930 to 1941. National resentment, much like that in America today, resulted in a national campaign to force the emigration of Mexicans from the United States. “The Depression struck Mexican Americans, especially the farm workers, with great severity. Enforced repatriation rested on the assumption that Mexicans sent back to Mexico were unassimilable (sic) foreigners.” Estimates state that as many as 32,000 Mexicans were forced to depart from Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio between 1930 and 1932.
It is known that in nearby Lucas County, Ohio, repatriation was being forced on inhabitants. “In March 1934 the State of Ohio paid an average of fifteen dollars per person to repatriate about three hundred Mexicans from Lucas County.” After the Depression abated, there was an influx of Mexicans from Texas who came to work in the Lorain steel mill; the production of war material demanded more workers. It is reported that the Mexican community in Lorain did not initially welcome the Texas-Mexicans to the community, the Anglo community concluding that the Texans were not American citizens. Still, U.S. Steel continued to utilize Mexican labor and the community likely grew to around 340 Mexican inhabitants.
II - The Call to Arms
The original Mexican colony was brought to Lorain for the purpose of accommodating a post-WWI industrial boom, but in World War II the United States would utilize more than just the labor of the Mexican American population. Before WWII, “We were placed in the categories of: cheap labor, thriftiness, lazy, unorganized, lacking in leadership, unkempt, and uneducated. This naturally made for discriminatory practices against us, no matter where we hailed from.” Despite the oppression and mistreatment of the early 30’s, Mexicans still answered the call to arms. Even in the Midwest, where forced emigration was rampant, Mexicans willingly answered the call to war.
Many of the Mexican communities that endured Depression era discrimination had long considered themselves American. For Mexican Americans, it was an affront that they had been accused of draft dodging in WWI. “Even with the constant discrimination and the continued denial of equal opportunities, when war came to the United States this time no one could accuse us of draft dodging or fleeing to Mexico to avoid military service as charged in World War I.” But the reasons Mexicans fought in WWII went far beyond the desire to vindicate the pride of a people.
One theory proposes that Mexican Americans had a special motivation. “Prior to Pearl Harbor, the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery units of the New Mexico National Guard had been sent to the Philippines, largely because the troops in these units spoke Spanish. That so large a percentage of the American troops captured or killed at Bataan were Mexican Americans merely served to stress the intensity with which the Spanish-speaking willingly participated in the Allied cause.” There is certainly merit to the notion that Bataan served as a rallying cry for Mexican American support, but it is unlikely that vengeance superseded the Mexican motivation to be assimilated into American society."
For some soldiers from Lorain, the motivation was more simple. “I was drafted,” remembered Gutierrez. “When you are drafted, you fight. I was under 18 at the time, but they didn’t care. I fought because they needed me. Lots of my friends were drafted, and they went. That’s what you do.” Gutierrez was a member of the 11th Armored Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, where he lost two of his friends from Lorain. “It was a terrible thing,” he commented.
As in Ohio, the military treated Mexican American soldiers better than they did other ethnic peoples during the World War II era. “Service in the armed forces afforded an easy means of naturalization for the foreign born. Hispanics, unlike blacks at the time, were not segregated in the fighting forces. Military service, especially in such fighting units as the paratroopers, marines, and tank corps, satisfied both the Spanish-speaking soldier’s sense of pride and his desire to counter calumny.” Gutierrez, who served from 1943-1946, concurs with this notion and maintains that when the battles began, cultural differences were subordinated. “In my unit, we were all treated that same. This was a war, and you don’t care if the guy next to you is another color. When people are shooting, everyone is your friend.”
To be continued next edition.
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