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Hispanic Americans in World War II fought in every major battle in the European Theatre, from North Africa to the Battle of the Bulge, and in the Pacific Theater of Operations, from Bataan to Okinawa. According to the National World War II Museum, between 250,000 and 500,000 Hispanic Americans served in the Armed Forces during WWII, out of a total of 10,420,000, comprising 2.3% to 4.7% of the Armed Forces. Not only did Hispanics serve as active combatants in the European and Pacific Theatres of war, but they also served on the home front as civilians. Hundreds of Hispanic women joined the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, serving as nurses and in administrative positions. When the induction into the armed forces was increased some Puerto Ricans from the island were assigned to units in the Panama Canal Zone and British Caribbean islands which were made up mostly of continental (United States mainland) soldiers as replacements, however most Puerto Ricans and Hispanics residing in Puerto Rico were assigned to the 65th Infantry Regiment or to the Puerto Rico National Guard. These were the only all-Hispanic units whose statistics were kept; hence, it is known that over 53,000 Puerto Ricans and Hispanics who resided on the island served in the war. (more...)

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July 4: Independence Day in the United States (1776); Filipino-American Friendship Day in the Philippines; Aphelion (02:00 UTC, 2009)

• 993 – Pope John XV became the first pope to canonize a saint, Ulrich of Augsburg.
• 1754 – French and Indian War: In the aftermath of losing the Battle of Fort Necessity near present-day Farmington, Pennsylvania, George Washington accepted the terms of what would become his only military surrender and peacefully withdrew his forces.
• 1862 – In a rowing boat travelling on the River Thames from Oxford to Godstow, author Lewis Carroll told Alice Liddell and her sisters a story that would eventually form the basis for his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
• 1941 – German AB-Aktion operation in Poland: After capturing Lwów, the Nazis executed approximately 45 professors of the University of Lwów.
• 1976 – Israel Defense Forces raided Uganda's Entebbe International Airport to free hostages taken by hijackers on Air France Flight 139.
• 2005 – The NASA space probe Deep Impact impacted the nucleus of the comet Tempel 1 (pictured), excavating debris from its interior to study its composition.

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