WASHINGTON — The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) recognizes all service members, veterans, comrades, and their families of Hispanic heritage in commemorating the National Hispanic Heritage Month Observance Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
Woven into the fabric of our country’s fight for freedom, Hispanic Americans have served in large numbers in every conflict since the Revolutionary War. To celebrate their contributions to the nation, the 90th Congress introduced legislation to authorize the president to designate the week of September 15 as National Hispanic Heritage Week. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed bill for the national observance into law. Twenty years later, President Ronald Reagan expanded the observance to 30 days to encompasses the anniversaries of independence for seven Latin American countries. Today, the observance commemorates the heritage of U.S.-born and naturalized Hispanic American citizens, as well as Hispanic immigrants to the United States from Latin American countries.
On behalf of the more than 1.5 million members of the VFW and its Auxiliary, we salute our fellow Americans for their immeasurable contributions to our freedom and our way of life. Though we are all different strands, America is stronger when we are braided together. Unidos.