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Hotesse, Esteban, 2nd Lt.
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First African-American Hispanic Airman in World War II Finally Recognized Many men fought and gave their lives in World War II. However, it's not widely known that one particular pilot in the American military was African-American and Hispanic as well who fought to end segregation in the Miltary. This man's name was Esteban Hotesse; he was born in Moca, Dominican Republic, but moved with his family to New York when he was four years old. He was just 26 years old when he died during a military exercise on July 8, 1945, a little more than three years into his service. When Hotesse enlisted in the Air Force on February 21, 1942, he became part of a 619 squadron. His group of 447 Tuskegee Airmen never flew in battle, but Hotesse did fight to end segregation laws and attitudes. As a black Dominican, Hotesse joined a squadron that worked toward demolishing segregation policies in the military. This was during the hight of the Jim Crow issues; the fight to end segregation was taking place both inside and outside the military. The name of the group Hotesse fought in was the Freeman Field Mutiny. One of their acts of resistance was in early 1945. He and the rest of the airmen tried to integrate an officers club at the airfield base in Indiana. All officers clubs were supposed to be integrated already, but this one in Indiana refused to follow the law. During the group's attempt to end segregation in the club by refusing to leave after being told to do so, over 100 black officers were arrested. Many years later, in 1995, the record of their arrest was finally expunged. Hotesse is known for many things during the war: his attempts at ending segregation, being one of several African-American soldiers to fight, and his status as of the only known Hispanic soldier in the service. But his legacy would have gone unnoticed had it not been for a researcher in the Dominican Republic. The reason Hotesse is being recognized now is because scholars studying the history of Dominicans in America discovered some of his papers during their research. Edward De Jesus noticed that an African-American Hispanic fought in the war and decided to do more research into Hotesse. He felt a personal connection with Hotesse because they are both Hispanics who moved to New York. Hotesse applied for U.S. citizenship in 1943 alongside his wife, Puerto Rico native Iristella Lind. The pair had two daughters ahead of his enlistment. Hotesse obtained the rank of second lieutenant before he died in 1945 at the age of 26 after a military exercise. De Jesus and his research team were originally looking for World War II information in general when they stumbled upon reports of Hotesse's actions in the war. Three years later, their research was completed. De Jesus contacted Hotesse's family; family members told him they have been waiting for all of this time for Hotesse to be recognized for all of the hard work he did with the army and with the segregation laws.
Other Comments:
Esteban Hotesse Aircraft Accident Report By U.S. War Department Date of Accident: July 8, 1945 Aircraft Number: 44-30746 Pilot: Samuel A. Black - Killed Copilot: Glenn Fullian - Killed Navigator Bombardier: Esteban (Stephen) Hotesse - Killed Engineer: Isiah Grice - No Injury Gunner: Napoleon G - Major Injuries Summary of Accident - On July 8, 1945, the twin engine B-25 (B= bomber) aircraft departed Godman Field, Kentucky for a military exercise over Hayes Bombing Range and then a training flight. The aircraft was to drop its bombs and then continue on a low altitude cross country where the co-pilot would take the controls. At Madison, Indiana the copilot began his decent from 1,000 feet to his assigned altitude of 100 feet above terrain. The copilot dropped below his assigned altitude, with water splashing onto the aircraft, both pilots attempted to pull on the yoke to gain altitude, with no success. The aircraft crashed into the Ohio River in Indiana killing the pilot, copilot and Hotesse. It was reported the upon impact the cockpit and tail broke away from the aircraft. http://avstop.com/february_2016/accident_report.pdf _________________________________________________________________________________ An Unknown Latino Tuskegee Airman Has Been Discovered The Dominican Studies Institute has unveiled the first known Dominican soldier to serve in the famous squad during World War II. the role of Dominican servicemen and women who made significant contributions to the war effort or who made significant contributions to society says De Jesus, a research associate at the Dominican Studies Institute at CUNY. It's exciting. It's been rewarding for me to find out something that is not known to the public, to show people something that they've never seen before, that they've never heard before, De Jesus says of the discovery. While poring over hundreds of military records, De Jesus came across an Army Enlistment Record with all the names of those who served in the Army and were born in the Dominican Republic. Hotesse's name was among them, but it was misspelled in the database (with the last name missing the last "e"). De Jesus followed the paper trail and eventually discovered that Hotesse's unit was a bombardment group made up of black soldiers. He was a Tuskegee Airman. Though his team was scheduled to go into battle, they never saw combat abroad. The trail led De Jesus to a naturalization record, a Census form, and a marriage certificate. He was even able to learn that Hotesse had been registered in the armed services as having a semi-skilled construction occupation. Mutiny'," De Jesus said. Hotesse, who enlisted in February 1942, earned the rank of second lieutenant. At the time of his enlistment, he was living in Manhattan with his wife, Iristella Lind, who was Puerto Rican. They applied for U.S. citizenship in April 1943 after he'd served almost a year. The couple had two daughters before he enlisted. Today, his daughter resides in New York City and two granddaughters live in the South. One of Hotesse's granddaughter, Iris Rivera, on the night of the exhibit opening donated a collection of photos and articles featuring him, including photos of him and his family, and articles related to the Freeman Field Mutiny. The exhibit runs through March during normal business hours at the Dominican Studies Institute Library. famous port of Ellis Island and, like many Dominicans at the time, went to live in Manhattan. Hotesse enlisted in the Army during World War II, made second lieutenant, and became a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black group of military pilots in the U.S. Armed Forces. These images were captured at the opening reception for the photo retrospective. In attendance were Stephen Hotesse's descendants, daughter Mary Lou Hotesse, granddaughters and other family members. Addressing the crowd, Maru Lou said that the exhibit was helping her reconnect with the Dominican side of her since her father died when she was three years old. For other members of the extended family, event was a reunion of sorts given that they are spread around the country.
World War II
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
December / 1946
Description Overview of World War II
World War II killed more people, involved more nations, and cost more money than any other war in history. Altogether, 70 million people served in the armed forces during the war, and 17 million combatants died. Civilian deaths were ever greater. At least 19 million Soviet civilians, 10 million Chinese, and 6 million European Jews lost their lives during the war.
World War II was truly a global war. Some 70 nations took part in the conflict, and fighting took place on the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe, as well as on the high seas. Entire societies participated as soldiers or as war workers, while others were persecuted as victims of occupation and mass murder.
World War II cost the United States a million causalities and nearly 400,000 deaths. In both domestic and foreign affairs, its consequences were far-reaching. It ended the Depression, brought millions of married women into the workforce, initiated sweeping changes in the lives of the nation's minority groups, and dramatically expanded government's presence in American life.
The War at Home & Abroad
On September 1, 1939, World War II started when Germany invaded Poland. By November 1942, the Axis powers controlled territory from Norway to North Africa and from France to the Soviet Union. After defeating the Axis in North Africa in May 1941, the United States and its Allies invaded Sicily in July 1943 and forced Italy to surrender in September. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allies landed in Northern France. In December, a German counteroffensive (the Battle of the Bulge) failed. Germany surrendered in May 1945.
The United States entered the war following a surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. Pacific fleet in Hawaii. The United States and its Allies halted Japanese expansion at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 and in other campaigns in the South Pacific. From 1943 to August 1945, the Allies hopped from island to island across the Central Pacific and also battled the Japanese in China, Burma, and India. Japan agreed to surrender on August 14, 1945 after the United States dropped the first atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Consequences:
1. The war ended Depression unemployment and dramatically expanded government's presence in American life. It led the federal government to create a War Production Board to oversee conversion to a wartime economy and the Office of Price Administration to set prices on many items and to supervise a rationing system.
2. During the war, African Americans, women, and Mexican Americans founded new opportunities in industry. But Japanese Americans living on the Pacific coast were relocated from their homes and placed in internment camps.
The Dawn of the Atomic Age
In 1939, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Roosevelt, warning him that the Nazis might be able to build an atomic bomb. On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi, an Italian refugee, produced the first self-sustained, controlled nuclear chain reaction in Chicago.
To ensure that the United States developed a bomb before Nazi Germany did, the federal government started the secret $2 billion Manhattan Project. On July 16, 1945, in the New Mexico desert near Alamogordo, the Manhattan Project's scientists exploded the first atomic bomb.
It was during the Potsdam negotiations that President Harry Truman learned that American scientists had tested the first atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay, a B-29 Superfortress, released an atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan. Between 80,000 and 140,000 people were killed or fatally wounded. Three days later, a second bomb fell on Nagasaki. About 35,000 people were killed. The following day Japan sued for peace.
President Truman's defenders argued that the bombs ended the war quickly, avoiding the necessity of a costly invasion and the probable loss of tens of thousands of American lives and hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives. His critics argued that the war might have ended even without the atomic bombings. They maintained that the Japanese economy would have been strangled by a continued naval blockade, and that Japan could have been forced to surrender by conventional firebombing or by a demonstration of the atomic bomb's power.
The unleashing of nuclear power during World War II generated hope of a cheap and abundant source of energy, but it also produced anxiety among large numbers of people in the United States and around the world.
