government. Though originally aimed at
helping African Americans, it enabled
many Mexican Americans to obtain jobs
they might otherwise not have gained and
to achieve parity in wages with their
Anglo coworkers.
As for those Mexican Americans who
joined the armed forces, they experi-
enced— in many cases for the first time—
what it was like to work side by side
with Anglo-Americans for a common
cause. Hispanic Americans were treated
with relatively little discrimination in
the armed forces and mostly served in
units that integrated them with Anglo-
Americans. After World War II, Hispanic-
American veterans benefited from the
G.I. Bill, which financed higher education
and offered low-cost loans to buy homes
and establish businesses.THE AGE OF WORLD WARS 157Lucien Adams
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Unit: 30th Infantry, Third Infantry Division
Place: Near St.-Dié, France
Date: October 28, 1945Marcario Garcia
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Unit: Company B, 22nd Infantry, Fourth Infantry Division
Place: Near Grosshau, Germany
Date: November 27, 1944Silvestre S. Herrera
Rank: Private First Class
Unit: Company E, 142nd Infantry, 36th Infantry Division
Place: Near Mertzwiller, France
Date: March 15, 1945
José M. Lopez
Rank: Sergeant
Unit: 23rd Infantry, Second Infantry Division
Place: Near Krinkelt, Belgium
Date: December 17, 1944José F. Valdez
Rank: Private First Class
Unit: Company B, Seventh Infantry Division
Place: Near Rosenkrantz, France
Date: January 25, 1945HISPANIC WINNERS OF THE CONGRESSIONAL
MEDAL OF HONOR IN THE EUROPEAN THEATER