I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2261 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Colonel Young Oak 

Kim in recognition of his extraordinary heroism, leadership, and humanitarianism. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2021 

Ms. STRICKLAND (for herself, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mrs. KIM of California, 

and Mrs. STEEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 

House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Colonel Young Oak Kim in recognition of his extraordinary 

heroism, leadership, and humanitarianism. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Colonel Young Oak 

5 Kim Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Young Oak Kim was born in Los Angeles 

2 in 1919 to Korean American immigrants, where his 

3 family faced numerous challenges. After high school, 

4 Kim enrolled in Los Angeles City College, but 

5 dropped out after a year to find work to help sup6 port his family. 

7 (2) Because of racial discrimination, Kim strug8 gled to keep employed. With the outbreak of World 

9 War II (WWII), Kim tried to enlist in the United 

10 States Army, but that opportunity was closed off to 

11 him, too, as an Asian American. However, after 

12 Congress extended conscription to Asian Americans, 

13 Kim was drafted into the Army, entering the service 

14 on January 31, 1941. 

15 (3) From the earliest days of Kim’s service in 

16 the United States Army, he distinguished himself as 

17 a leader, being selected for the Infantry Officer Can18 didate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon his 

19 commission as a second lieutenant in 1943, Kim was 

20 assigned to the all-Japanese American 100th Infan21 try Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team. 

22 (4) Young Oak Kim was assigned as an officer 

23 of the 100th Infantry Battalion that was formed on 

24 June 5, 1942, comprised of predominantly secondVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:44 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2261.IH H2261

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1 generation Americans of Japanese ancestry from the 

2 Hawaiian Islands. 

3 (5) When Kim reported to duty, his com4 manding officer gave Kim the option to transfer due 

5 to the historical conflicts between the Japanese and 

6 Koreans, but Kim stated, ‘‘Sir, they’re Americans 

7 and I am an American. And we’re going to fight for 

8 America.’’. 

9 (6) The 100th Infantry Battalion was deployed 

10 to the Mediterranean and entered combat in Italy on 

11 September 26, 1943. The 100th Battalion fought at 

12 Cassino, Italy in January 1944, and later accom13 panied the 34th Infantry Division to Anzio, Italy. 

14 (7) Kim’s most notable feat occurred at the 

15 Battle of Anzio, during broad daylight he volun16 teered to capture German soldiers for intelligence in17 formation. He and another soldier crawled more 

18 than 600 yards located directly under German obser19 vation posts with no cover. They captured two pris20 oners and obtained information that significantly 

21 contributed to the fall of Rome. For his actions, Kim 

22 received the Distinguished Service Cross from the 

23 United States and the Military Valor Cross, the 

24 highest military decoration in Italy. 


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1 (8) The 100th Infantry Battalion was formally 

2 made an integral part of the 442nd Regimental 

3 Combat Team on June 15, 1944, and fought for the 

4 last 11 months of the war with distinction in Italy, 

5 southern France, and Germany. The 442nd Regi6 mental Team became the most decorated unit in 

7 United States military history for its size and length 

8 of service. The 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regi9 mental Combat Team, received 7 Presidential Unit 

10 Citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished 

11 Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze 

12 Stars, 22 Legion of Merit Medals, 15 Soldier’s Med13 als, and over 4,000 Purple Hearts, among numerous 

14 additional distinctions. 

15 (9) When the Korean war broke out in 1950, 

16 Kim rejoined the United States Army and partici17 pated in the United Nations Forces’ last drive into 

18 Korea. As commander of the First Battalion, 31st 

19 Infantry Regiment, he became the first officer of 

20 color in United States history to command an Army 

21 battalion on the battlefield. 

22 (10) In Seoul, he led his battalion in sponsoring 

23 an orphanage of more than 500 children. The bat24 talion was the only United Nations military unit to 

25 sponsor an orphanage during the war. 


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1 (11) In 1972, Kim retired from the Army at 

2 the rank of Colonel. By the end of his career, Kim 

3 had earned the Distinguished Service Cross, two Sil4 ver Stars, two Bronze Stars, three Purple Hearts, 

5 two Legions of Merit, and several military com6 mendations from foreign governments-Italy’s Bronze 

7 Medal of Military Valor and Military Valor Cross, 

8 France’s La Legion D’Honneur, and the Republic of 

9 Korea’s Taeguk Order of Military Merit. 

10 (12) Kim returned to his native Los Angeles 

11 and became a civic leader. In 1975, he established 

12 the Koreatown Youth and Community Center in Los 

13 Angeles to support recently immigrated Korean 

14 youth who were struggling with poverty and lan15 guage barriers, which today serves a broad multi16 ethnic population of 11,000 people in the greater 

17 Los Angeles area. 

18 (13) In 1978, Kim helped establish the Center 

19 for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF), an organiza20 tion providing culturally and linguistically appro21 priate domestic violence and sexual assault services 

22 to the pan-Asian immigrant community. Under his 

23 leadership as CPAF’s chairman, the organization be24 came the largest women’s shelter in Southern Cali25 fornia in the 1990s. 


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1 (14) In 1986, Kim founded the Korean Health, 

2 Education, Information and Research Center 

3 (KHEIR), a nonprofit service agency providing cul4 turally and linguistically-sensitive health care and 

5 human services to the uninsured and underserved 

6 residents of Los Angeles. Today KHEIR operates 

7 two clinics that can accommodate more than 75,000 

8 patient visits annually and is the only federally 

9 qualified health center in the United States that 

10 serves a majority Korean patient base, with all serv11 ices available in English, Korean, and Spanish. 

12 (15) In 1985, Kim co-founded the Japanese 

13 American National Museum (JANM), which pro14 motes understanding and appreciation of America’s 

15 ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japa16 nese American experience. 

17 (16) In 1989, Kim founded and served as the 

18 Chairman of the 100th/442nd/MIS WWII Memorial 

19 Foundation, which is now known as the Go for 

20 Broke National Education Center. Kim led a cam21 paign with veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 

22 442nd RCT and Military Intelligence Service to 

23 build the Go for Broke Monument, in downtown Los 

24 Angeles, which serves as a tribute to the Japanese 

25 American soldiers of World War II. 


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1 (17) Kim’s contributions in the 1980s and 

2 1990s also included founding the Korean American 

3 Museum and the Korean American Coalition, both 

4 entities dedicated to understanding the Korean 

5 American experience and addressing its issues and 

6 needs. 

7 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

8 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

9 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem10 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

11 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con12 gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design, in commemo13 ration of Colonel Young Oak Kim, in recognition of his 

14 achievements and contributions to heroism, leadership, 

15 and humanitarianism. 

16 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 

17 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

18 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec19 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

20 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec21 retary. 

22 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

24 gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 

25 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 


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1 it shall be available for display as appropriate and 

2 made available for research. 

3 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

4 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution shall 

5 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

6 available for— 

7 (A) display, particularly at the National 

8 Portrait Gallery; or 

9 (B) loan, as appropriate, so that the medal 

10 may be displayed elsewhere. 

11 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

12 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

13 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

14 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

15 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

16 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

17 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

18 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu19 ant this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

20 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

21 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

22 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

23 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

Æ 


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