Throughout American history, immigrants have not only come to the United States seeking opportunity, they have also stepped forward to defend it. During World War II, approximately 300,000 foreign-born men and women wore the American uniform and fought alongside native-born citizens.
After the United States entered the war following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the nation mobilized on a massive scale. Among those who answered the call were immigrants from Europe, Latin America, Asia, and beyond. Some had only recently arrived. Others had fled tyranny, particularly from Nazi-controlled countries, and saw military service as both a duty and a powerful statement of loyalty to their new homeland.
It’s estimated that more than half a million foreign-born individuals served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the war. Many brought valuable language skills and cultural knowledge. Immigrants fluent in German, Italian, or Japanese were often recruited into intelligence and translation roles. Refugees from fascist regimes sometimes found themselves fighting directly against the governments they had escaped.
One well-known example is Felix Frankfurter, an Austrian-born immigrant who, played an influential role in advising the Roosevelt administration during wartime, as well as serving as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Countless other immigrants served on the front lines on ships, in the skies, and on the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific.
For many immigrant service members, military service accelerated their path to citizenship and deepened their connection to the country they chose to call home. Their stories are a powerful reminder that America’s strength during World War II did not come from one background or one birthplace. It came from people united by shared purpose, many of whom were fighting not just for the United States, but for the very ideals that had drawn them here in the first place.
Regardless of birthplace, we honor all who served during WW2. We believe that those who gave the most shouldn’t get the least in retirement. That’s why we support a bill we call the Elder Relief Act. Learn more about what we are doing here.