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(Courtesy of Carol Giguere)
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) on July 29,awarded its highest honor, the LULAC Presidential Medal of Freedom, to retired veteran and nurse Carmen Maria Vazquez Rivera during the 2022 LULAC National Convention in San Juan, PR. Established in 1929, LULAC is the largest and oldest Latino membership organization in the U.S. with over 130,000 members.
The choice of holding the convention in Puerto Rico was especially significant for Vazquez as she was born and raised in the town of Cidra, PR. This February, Vazquez and her family celebrated her 100th birthday, setting off a string of high-profile recognitions for her extensive career of service. Throughout her long life, Vazquez has been defined by her bold character, forging her own way at a time when minority women had limited options.
Vazquez first studied nursing in Puerto Rico’s Escuela del Distrito de Bayamón, where she graduated in 1942 before continuing her education in the Hospital de la Capital de San Juan and joining the Red Cross. She served in numerous capacities, including delivering over 100 births, and was an auxiliary operating room supervisor as well as an instructor of auxiliary nurses.
Vazquez also is a decorated veteran of two wars. She first served with the U.S. Army in 1944 during WWII, where she was a head nurse in charge of the Orthopedic Department in San Juan’s Fort Brooke. She held the rank of second lieutenant and earned the American Theater Campaign Medal, the WWII Victory Medal, as well as three Overseas Service Bars and a signed letter from President Truman for her service.
After her service in the U.S. Army, Vazquez studied physical therapy at Columbia University in New York. She received her New York nursing license in 1953 and practiced in the Presbyterian Medical Center.
Later that year, Vazquez was recruited back into the armed services during the Korean War, this time in the Air Force, where she was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. Following her tenure in the Air Force, Vazquez remained in the reserves for the next 20 years, retiring in 1973.
In another surprising turn that reflects the spark of her pioneering spirit and taste for adventure, Vazquez was also certified in criminology from the Bolan Academy of New York, after which she had a brief career as a private detective in the 1950s before relocating to South Florida.
Vazquez received her Florida nursing license in 1955 and subsequently practiced at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach. She still remembers her time there fondly, describing Miami Beach as one of her favorite places she has lived, and being particularly taken with its beauty.
In the 1960s Vazquez relocated back to Puerto Rico, where she would donate her specialized medical services to the community as a Mutual Aid nurse and volunteer. While in Puerto Rico, Vazquez also remarried the noted politician and medical doctor, Leopoldo Figueroa, one of the leading figures of Puerto Rican politics in the 20th Century. Figueroa was one of Vazquez’s medical instructors in the 1940s. They married after the conclusion of WWII, though the marriage ended in divorce before Vazquez relocated to New York.
After remarrying almost 20 years later in 1963, the couple resided in the Santurce District of Puerto Rico’s capital, San Juan. There Figueroa served on the Puerto Rican Senate and was a leading early proponent of Puerto Rican statehood. Vazquez cared for him in his final years and became his widow following his death in 1969. Figueroa was subsequently honored with a room in El Capitolio de Puerto Rico (the Puerto Rico Capitol) being named in his honor, along with the declaration of his birthday, Sept. 21, as the annual “Leopoldo Figueroa Carreras Day.”
Following Vazquez’s 100th birthday celebration, her own life and career has received renewed interest in its own right. Three days following her birthday, Puerto Rico’s representative in the House of Representatives, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González, had a U.S. Flag flown over the United States Capitol in recognition of her service and later delivered a statement into The Congressional Record of the United States Congress paying tribute to Vazquez’s career. The statement was delivered on Mar. 9 to coincide with Puerto Rico’s Women’s Veterans Day.
Vazquez’s cousin, Lucia Rivera Ayala, 85, another Cidra-born former Miami resident, was instrumental in raising awareness of her unique career of service, which has led to the honors and renewed recognition Vazquez has received since becoming a centenarian. U.S. Congressman and 2022 Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, who represents Lucia’s district in the House of Representatives, published a statement on Feb. 25 recognizing Vazquez’s career and centennial milestone, stating: “Throughout your life, you chose to care for the men and women of our armed services when you were needed most. You went above and beyond the call of duty, not only serving in the Second World War, but during the conflict in the Korean Peninsula. The dedication and courage you have displayed in the service of our nation is both admirable and inspirational.”
Vazquez’s story has also been spotlighted this year by the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs as well as the American Latino Veterans Association (ALVA), which counts LULAC CEO Sindy Benavides and former longtime South Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen among its ALVA Advisory Council. Vazquez also was previously honored with official Proclamations from the New York State Senate on Nov. 7, 2009, as well as the Senate of Puerto Rico on Feb. 23, 2012 shortly after her 90th birthday.
For Vazquez, the LULAC Presidential Medal of Freedom represents her highest honor to date. The award was presented during the LULAC Presidential Awards Dinner gala, which included remarks delivered by Vice President Kamala Harris. As Vazquez currently resides in Tallahassee with her daughter Carol, she was represented at the event by her three children, Carol, Janice and Gabriel, as well as granddaughter Arlene.
How inspiring. She is truly a hero!