Last month a woman wearing a T-shirt of the Puerto Rican flag was continually harassed at a Cook County forest park. An older man essentially told the woman that she should not be wearing the shirt in the U.S.A., especially if she was a citizen, while she was celebrating her 24th birthday.

Puerto Rico is part of the United States since the signing of the Paris Treaty on April 11, 1899, after Spain lost the Spanish-American war and the U.S. annexed it. Puerto Ricans have been citizens since 1917, following the Jones–Shafroth Act.

There are over three and a half million Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and 35 million living in the states. Puerto Ricans, under Spain, fought alongside the American colonists during the Revolutionary War and won decisive battles in the southeast of the United States. 18,000 served in World War I, 65,000 served in World War II, 61,000 served in Korea, 48,000 served in Vietnam, 17,000 in the Gulf war. Today there are 20,000 serving in the U.S. military. Several thousand gave their lives for this country since its beginning. So I’m wearing my T-shirt with a Puerto Rican flag proudly.

Steven A. Birt

Noank