The 65th Infantry Regiment Motorcycle Association 

ORIGINAL BORINQUENEER BRIGADIER GENERAL WALTER McCOSTLIN

HDQ & HDQ COMPANY I & R 1951

PURPLE HEART RECIPIENT   

At 6 feet, 2 inches tall, the heavyset McCostlin blended in with older enlistees, who were required to be 17 years old to enlist with parental consent, and 18 without.

After training for eight weeks in Japan, McCostlin landed in Pusan (now Busan), South Korea, and ended up getting on the "wrong bus" in joining the 65th Infantry Regiment. He was the only non-Hispanic enlisted man in a unit of Puerto Ricans -- dubbed "The Borinqueneers," nicknamed after "Borinquen," the word given to Puerto Rico by its original inhabitants, the Taíno Indians, meaning "land of the brave lord."

"Being a 'gringo,' it was a snafu that the Army assigned me there," he said. "I look at that as the best mistake the Army ever made."

It turned out to be a life-altering experience for McCostlin, who still chokes up when relating what he went through.

"War is hell," McCostlin said. "What I did there and the reason I went there stayed there. I had to work real hard to forget it."

McCostlin, now 81 and living in Fox River Grove, will travel to Washington, D.C., April 13 to see the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the 65th Infantry Regiment in honor of its service. It is the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow.

McCostlin said he hopes to be reunited with other surviving members of his unit with whom he fought but never saw again after leaving Korea. The Puerto Rican unit was split up as a result of President Harry Truman's executive order to desegregate the military and its members were integrated into other units.

"I've been trying so long (to find them). ... Most of them are deceased either through service-connected injuries or were killed after I left," McCostlin said, holding back tears.

Despite not speaking Spanish, McCostlin said he successfully communicated with his Puerto Rican peers using sign language. "I only learned bad words in Spanish," he said laughingly.

Ultimately, McCostlin was wounded Sept. 13, 1951, in a bayonet fight and by shrapnel from an artillery shell exploding nearby. It earned him a Purple Heart. His unit mates saved his life.

"The medic bandaged me up. I was still a walking casualty. My wounds were not sufficient for evacuation," he said.

Yet, the psychological wounds were far greater. McCostlin said he finally broke down crying and confessed his true age to the unit chaplain and battalion commander. Not long after, he was discharged and shipped back stateside in October 1952.

By then a 17-year-old war veteran, McCostlin said he grew up real fast but still had difficulty adjusting to life back home in Alabama.

"I was a real hell raiser right after I got back," he said. "It took a lot of doing. I was a bad boy for a long time. It sent me on a course.

" ... When I went back home I found out that most of the old gang was dead (in the war) or in prison. The only therapy I could get was I joined the National Guard."

McCostlin re-enlisted in the Army in 1957. He rose up the ranks, eventually becoming an officer. He retired as a colonel after nearly 37 years in military service, and he later was bestowed the title of retired brigadier general by Gov. Jim Edgar. McCostlin also worked with lawmakers as a veterans' liaison helping them secure disability benefits. He has three grown sons living in Cleveland and Indiana.

  McCostlin said the recognition is long overdue.

"I'm so happy to see it," he said. "They had a history of being persecuted. They looked down at the Puerto Rican outfit in such a way that they had no confidence in them. I thought they were great."

            In the Korean War alone, the regiment earned nine Distinguished Service Crosses, roughly 250 Silver Stars, more than 600 Bronze Stars, and more than 2,700 Purple Hearts, according to the unit's website.

Only a single gold medal has been struck for the unit, which ultimately will be kept at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. However, surviving members will get a replica to take home.

Yet, because the unit was split up, many soldiers have lost their paperwork and have a tough time proving they were ever part of the Borinqueneers. McCostlin said he learned that anecdotally from other soldiers when getting his own documentation together.

"I feel out there some place there are individuals that are not acknowledged," McCostlin said. "I'm lucky. A lot of good units go unnoticed."