IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 347 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 18, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

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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HR 347 RFS 

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 re-open 

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 though 

11 the battalion was ready to deploy shortly thereafter, 

12 the battalion was refused by General Eisenhower, 

13 due to concerns over the loyalty and patriotism of 

14 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 counVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:38 May 18, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H347.RFS H347

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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 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

8 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

9 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

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

11 of appropriate design to the 100th Infantry Battalion and 

12 the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, United States 

13 Army, collectively, in recognition of their dedicated service 

14 during World War II. 

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

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

17 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec18 retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 

19 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec20 retary. 

21 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

23 gold medal in honor of the 100th Infantry Battalion 

24 and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, United 

25 States Army, under subsection (a), the gold medal 


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1 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 

2 it will be displayed as appropriate and made avail3 able for research. 

4 (2) SENSE.—It is the sense of the Congress 

5 that the Smithsonian Institution should make the 

6 gold medal received under paragraph (1) available 

7 for display elsewhere, particularly at other appro8 priate locations associated with the 100th Infantry 

9 Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, 

10 United States Army. 

11 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

12 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre13 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

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

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

17 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

18 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med19 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

20 Code. 

21 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 

22 OF SALE. 

23 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

24 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

25 Public Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 


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1 to pay for the cost of the medal authorized under section 

2 2. 

3 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

4 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

5 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

6 Fund. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 14, 2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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