Medal of Honor recipient Private First Class Fernando Luis Garcia-Ledesma of Utuado, Puerto Rico, has been forgotten for 58 years.
In official Department of Defense records and on his Medal of Honor certificate, his name is incorrectly written as Fernando Luis Garcia.
His real last name, Garcia-Ledesma, was dropped by the Department of Defense many years ago.
PFC Garcia-Ledesma was apparently the first recipient of the Medal of Honor from Puerto Rico, but due to lack of understanding of Puerto Rican heritage and name usage, his name was truncated to Garcia and to this day, his official records are incorrect.
The Korean War Project has formally asked Representative John Salazar of Colorado to introduce legislation in Congress to correct this 58 year old error and honor a Puerto Rican patriot using his full name.
Hal Barker, Dallas, Korean War Project