Latino soldiers—whether of U.S., foreign, or dual nationality—have long played a key role in America's wars, and this has been no less true of the post-World War II era. Nine Mexican-American soldiers and one Puerto Rican were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Korean conflict. For the Vietnam War, the figures were thirteen and two respectively. These awards represent the highest proportion of Medals of Honor awarded to any U.S. ethnic minority.

In 1991, approximately 20,000 Latinos participated in Operation Desert Storm. Latinos constituted about 10 percent of the approximately 135,000 U.S. forces based in Iraq following the renewed conflict of 2003. However, they were about 20 percent of U.S. Marines, the force that led the assault on Baghdad and that has traditionally faced the highest risk of death and injury.

In the 1980s and 1990s...