Carmen García Rosado
| Carmen García Rosado | |
|---|---|
PFC Carmen García Rosado
Among the first 200 Puerto Rican women to serve in the U.S. Women's Army Corps |
|
| Born |
October 29, 1926 Humacao, Puerto Rico |
| Allegiance |
 United States Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
|
| Years of service | 1944-1946 |
| Rank |
 Private First Class |
| Unit | Company 6, 2nd Battalion, 21st Regiment |
| Other work | Author of "LAS WACS-Participacion de la Mujer Boricua en la Segunda Guerra Mundial" (The WACs-The participation of the Puerto Rican women in the Second World War). Consultant to the Director of Veterans Affairs in Puerto Rico. |
PFC Carmen García Rosado (born October 29, 1926) is an educator, author and activist for the rights of women veterans who was among the first 200 Puerto Rican women to be recruited into the WAC's during World War II. Her book "LAS WACS-Participacion de la Mujer Boricua en la Segunda Guerra Mundial" (The WACs-The participation of the Puerto Rican women in the Second World War), is the first book to document the experiences of the first 200 Puerto Rican women who participated in said conflict as members of the armed forces of the United States.
García Rosado was the seventh of nine siblings born in Humacao, Puerto Rico to Jesus García Doble and Maria Rosado Arce de García. Her father was the foremen of a sugar plantation who would often be assigned to work in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, thus inspiring the desire within García Rosado to travel and see the world beyond Puerto Rico. She received her primary and secondary education in the towns of Las Piedras and Caguas. She continued her education in Santurce and graduated from Santurce Central High School. In 1944, at the age of 18, she earned her teachers diploma from the University of Puerto Rico and worked in her profession in the mountainous areas between the towns of Las Piedras and Humacao. On September 17, 1944, "El Mundo", a local newspaper, announced that the United States were seeking women volunteers for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAC's).
By this time the United States had entered World War II and therefore needed to boost its military capabilities; as a result, the Army ordered Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment to full war strength and drafted many Puerto Ricans — even those whose knowledge of English was minimal. As a result, the Army recognized the need for bilingual personnel to fill in the clerical positions left empty by the male soldiers who were sent to the front lines. In 1944, the Army sent three WAC (Women's Army Corps) recruiters to the island to organize a unit of 200 WACs. Over 1,500 women responded to the call and applied, however only 200 were selected, among them, against her parents wishes, was García Rosado.
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