The New International Encyclopædia/Porto Rican Expedition, Military and Naval Society of the

PORTO RICAN EXPEDITION, Military and Naval Society of the. A patriotic society projected at Caguas, Porto Rico, October 11, 1898, and organized at Columbus, Ohio, June 5, 1900. It comprises: (1) Active members, who as officers or enlisted men in any branch of the United States service with the Porto Rican expedition were on the island before or on October 18, 1898, the date of the raising of the American flag over the Capitol at San Juan; (2) associate members, who are soldiers or sailors of good reputation belonging to organizations or vessels which composed the expedition, but who were detained in the United States by sickness or disability, or on detached service, as well as members of the Red Cross Society, volunteer nurses, etc., who served with the army in Porto Rico; and (3) honorary members. The membership, which is about 500, is distributed among departments, as follows: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and District of Columbia.