111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1055 

AN ACT 

To grant the congressional gold medal, collectively, to the 

100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental 

Combat Team, United States Army, in recognition of 

their dedicated service during World War II. 

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

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) On January 19, 1942, 6 weeks after the 

4 December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor by the 

5 Japanese Navy, the United States Army discharged 

6 all Japanese-Americans in the Reserve Officers 

7 Training Corps and changed their draft status to 

8 ‘‘4C’’—the status of ‘‘enemy alien’’ which is ineli9 gible for the draft. 

10 (2) On January 23, 1942, Japanese-Americans 

11 in the military on the mainland were segregated out 

12 of their units. 

13 (3) Further, on May 3, 1942, General John L. 

14 DeWitt issued Civilian Exclusion Order No. 346, or15 dering all people of Japanese ancestry, whether citi16 zens or noncitizens, to report to assembly centers, 

17 where they would live until being moved to perma18 nent relocation centers. 

19 (4) On June 5, 1942, 1,432 predominantly 

20 Nisei (second generation Americans of Japanese an21 cestry) members of the Hawaii Provisional Infantry 

22 Battalion were shipped from the Hawaiian Islands 

23 to Oakland, CA, where the 100th Infantry Battalion 

24 was activated on June 12, 1942, and then shipped 

25 to train at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. 
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1 (5) The excellent training record of the 100th 

2 Infantry Battalion and petitions from prominent ci3 vilian and military personnel helped convince Presi4 dent Roosevelt and the War Department to reopen 

5 military service to Nisei volunteers who were incor6 porated into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team 

7 after it was activated in February of 1943. 

8 (6) In that same month, the 100th Infantry 

9 Battalion was transferred to Camp Shelby, Mis10 sissippi, where it continued to train, and even 

11 though the battalion was ready to deploy shortly 

12 thereafter, the battalion was refused by General Ei13 senhower, due to concerns over the loyalty and patri14 otism of the Nisei. 

15 (7) The 442nd Regimental Combat Team later 

16 trained with the 100th Infantry Battalion at Camp 

17 Shelby in May of 1943. 

18 (8) Eventually, the 100th Infantry Battalion 

19 was deployed to the Mediterranean and entered com20 bat in Italy on September 26, 1943. 

21 (9) Due to their bravery and valor, members of 

22 the Battalion were honored with 6 awards of the 

23 Distinguished Service Cross in the first 8 weeks of 

24 combat. 
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1 (10) The 100th Battalion fought at Cassino, 

2 Italy in January 1944, and later accompanied the 

3 34th Infantry Division to Anzio, Italy. 

4 (11) The 442nd Regimental Combat Team ar5 rived in Civitavecchia, Italy on June 7, 1944, and on 

6 June 15 of the following week, the 100th Infantry 

7 Battalion was formally made an integral part of the 

8 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and fought for the 

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

10 southern France, and Germany. 

11 (12) The battalion was awarded the Presi12 dential Unit Citation for its actions in battle on 

13 June 26–27, 1944. 

14 (13) The 442nd Regimental became the most 

15 decorated unit in United States military history for 

16 its size and length of service. 

17 (14) The 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regi18 mental Combat Team, received 7 Presidential Unit 

19 Citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished 

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

21 Stars, 22 Legion of Merit Medals, 15 Soldier’s Med22 als, and over 4,000 Purple Hearts, among numerous 

23 additional distinctions. 

24 (15) The United States remains forever in25 debted to the bravery, valor, and dedication to coun-
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1 try these men faced while fighting a 2-fronted battle 

2 of discrimination at home and fascism abroad. 

3 (16) Their commitment and sacrifice dem4 onstrates a highly uncommon and commendable 

5 sense of patriotism and honor. 

6 (17) The Military Intelligence Service (in this 

7 Act referred to as the ‘‘MIS’’) was made up of about 

8 6,000 Japanese American soldiers who conducted 

9 highly classified intelligence operations that proved 

10 to be vital to United States military successes in the 

11 Pacific Theatre. 

12 (18) As they were discharged from the Army, 

13 MIS soldiers were told not to discuss their wartime 

14 work, due to its sensitive nature, and their contribu15 tions were not known until passage of the Freedom 

16 of Information Act in 1974. 

17 (19) MIS soldiers were attached individually or 

18 in small groups to United States and Allied combat 

19 units, where they intercepted radio transmissions, 

20 translated enemy documents, interrogated enemy 

21 prisoners of war, volunteered for reconnaissance and 

22 covert intelligence missions, and persuaded enemy 

23 combatants to surrender. 

24 (20) Their contributions continued during the 

25 Allied postwar occupation of Japan, and MIS lin-
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1 guistic skills and understanding of Japanese cus2 toms were invaluable to occupation forces as they as3 sisted Japan in a peaceful transition to a new, 

4 democratic form of government. 

5 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

6 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 

7 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

8 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

9 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 

10 of appropriate design to the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 

11 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intel12 ligence Service, United States Army, collectively, in rec13 ognition of their dedicated service during World War II. 

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

15 award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

16 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec17 retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 

18 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec19 retary. 

20 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

22 gold medal in honor of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 

23 the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Mili24 tary Intelligence Service, United States Army, under 

25 subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the 
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1 Smithsonian Institution, where it will be displayed 

2 as appropriate and made available for research. 

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

4 the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 

5 should make the gold medal received under para6 graph (1) available for display elsewhere, particu7 larly at other appropriate locations associated with 

8 the 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental 

9 Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service, 

10 United States Army. 

11 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

12 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

13 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 2, at a price 

14 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

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

16 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

17 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med18 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

19 Code. 

20 SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUNDS; PROCEEDS OF SALE. 

21 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUNDS.—There is author22 ized to be charged against the United States Mint Public 

23 Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay 

24 for the cost of the medal authorized under section 2. 
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1 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

2 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

3 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

4 Fund. 

Passed the Senate August 2, 2010. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1055 

AN ACT 

To grant the congressional gold medal, collectively, 

World War II. in recognition of their dedicated service during Regimental Combat Team, United States Army, to the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd