More than 2,000 veterans of Basque heritage fought in the U.S. armed forces in World War II. After a decade of research, some historians are working to build a memorial, on American soil, recognizing their sacrifice.
Since 2015, volunteers and researchers from the Fighting Basques Project at the Sancho de Beurko Association have been poring over military ledgers across the country to find veterans of Basque Heritage.
“The Basque story is that of a small ethnic migrant community — long known for its work ethic and presence in the shepherding industry across the American West — yet the sacrifices and contributions made during World War II have remained largely unknown to the public,” said lead researcher Pedro Oiarzabal.
“That is now changing,”
The task to identify the men and women who fought in the war was complicated, Oiarzabal said, as many Basques lost their surnames when moving to America. Women who married non-Basques and children of migrants were the hardest to identify. For those, researchers looked at newspaper clippings, books, obituaries and family histories.
In town from Bilbao to present the project during Jaialdi, the researcher said they’ve identified about 300 veterans from Idaho.
Many who fought in the war were the children of immigrants from the Basque Country of Spain and France. But others, about 15%, were not U.S. citizens when they enlisted. Some received their American citizenship.
“Others, they never receive it,” Oairzabal said. “But regardless of that, they fought for the US for their adopted country. This is something that their families have to be very proud of.”
“The memorial attempts to bring together the community,” he continued."But also the future generations into the remembrance of these great people.”
Until recently, history books did not acknowledge the contributions of minorities in WWII. Basques, like many others, answered the call of duty and should be honored, Oairzabal said.
“It’s a nice way to come together from different corners in the country and join together and reflect together an entire generation that is almost gone but is not forgotten,” the researcher said.
Most veterans have passed away, and some have yet to be identified, but Oairzabal said the memorial, which would feature the names of all those enlisted, is ready for the next step.
The project hasn’t figured out a location for the memorial yet but is hoping to break ground by 2026, the 85th anniversary of the U.S. entering the war.
Oiazarbal is presenting the project at the International Symposium on the Basque Diaspora and Cultural Expressions Thursday July 30, at Boise State University at 11:15 am.
