H. R. 3642 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Sunday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-one 

An Act 

To award a Congressional gold medal to the 369th Infantry Regiment, commonly 

known as the ‘‘Harlem Hellfighters’’, in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service during World War I. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Harlem Hellfighters Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds the following: 

(1) When the United States officially entered World War 

I in April 1917, the Armed Forces were still segregated, even 

though African-American soldiers had served and distinguished 

themselves in every war since the Revolutionary War, and 

even the Colonial Wars preceding the American Revolution. 

(2) After several years of advocacy and debate, in 1916 

the State of New York authorized the recruitment of the 15th 

New York National Guard Regiment, which was called to Federal service on July 25, 1917, soon after arriving for training 

at Camp Whitman, New York. 

(3) The 15th completed its basic military practice training 

at Camp Whitman, New York. 

(4) To receive combat training, the 15th reported, on 

October 8, 1917, to Camp Wadsworth, in Spartanburg, South 

Carolina, where it experienced many incidents of racial 

discrimination. 

(5) Consequently, the government agreed to remove the 

15th from Camp Wadsworth, but, instead of receiving further 

training, the regiment began preparing for deployment to 

France in November. 

(6) The 15th arrived in Saint Nazaire, France, on January 

1, 1918, where it was redesignated the 369th Infantry Regiment. 

(7) Partly because many White soldiers within the American Expeditionary Forces (hereinafter, the ‘‘AEF’’) refused to 

perform combat duty with Black soldiers, members of the 369th 

were initially assigned manual labor tasks, such as loading 

and unloading supplies, and constructing roads and railroads. 

(8) After receiving pressure from the 369th regimental 

commander about not having a combat mission, the AEF 

attached the 369th to the French Fourth Army. 
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(9) By mid-March of 1918, the 369th went to the Argonne 

Forest with the French 16th Division for training and soon 

entered the trenches. 

(10) The 369th encountered its first German soldiers in 

combat in April, 1918. 

(11) In May of 1918, Private Henry Johnson of the 369th 

received the French Croix de Guerre, with Palm, for extraordinary valor, becoming one of the first American soldiers to 

be awarded this honor. 

(12) Johnson also belatedly received a Purple Heart, was 

awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and in, 2015, was 

awarded the Medal of Honor. 

(13) Throughout the remainder of the spring and into the 

summer the 369th served at Minacourt, in the ChampagneMarne Defensive, and during the Aisne-Marne Offensive in 

support of the French 161st Infantry Division. 

(14) As summer turned to autumn, the 369th went on 

to participate in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, where it captured the important village of Sechault despite sustaining 

severe losses. 

(15) On October 14, 1918, the 369th advanced to Alsace. 

(16) On November 20, 1918, the 369th reached the banks 

of the Rhine River as part of the French Army of Occupation, 

the first Allied unit to do so. 

(17) The 369th was relieved of its assignment with the 

French 161st Division in December, 1918, and elements of 

the regiment sailed for New York in late January and early 

February, 1919. 

(18) The 369th Infantry Regiment received a parade up 

5th Avenue in New York City on February 17, 1919, receiving 

applause and cheers from hundreds of thousands of onlookers. 

(19) The 369th was demobilized on February 28, 1919. 

(20) Over 170 individual members of the 369th received 

the Croix de Guerre, many were awarded the Distinguished 

Service Cross, and the 369th was awarded a unit citation. 

(21) It is generally believed that the 369th was dubbed 

the ‘‘Harlem Hellfighters’’ by German soldiers, who found the 

men to be incredibly determined and courageous in battle. 

(22) The 369th was the first regiment of African Americans 

to deploy overseas during World War I and spent 191 days 

on the front line in World War I, more than any other American 

regimental sized unit. 

(23) The 369th never lost a foot of ground nor had a 

man taken prisoner, despite suffering a high number of casualties. 

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

(a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall 

make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of the 

Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to the 369th 

Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the ‘‘Harlem Hellfighters’’, 

in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service during World 

War I. 

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

referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
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strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 

(c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the gold medal 

in honor of the 369th Infantry Regiment, the ‘‘Harlem 

Hellfighters’’, the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian 

Institution, where it will be displayed as appropriate and made 

available for research. 

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

the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal 

awarded pursuant to this Act available for display elsewhere, 

particularly at other locations associated with the Harlem 

Hellfighters. 

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates 

in bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 

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

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

(b) PROCEEDS OF SALES.—The amounts received from the sale 

of duplicate medals under subsection (a) shall be deposited in the 

United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund. 

(c) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is authorized 

to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs 

of the medals struck under this Act. 

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

The gold medal struck pursuant to this Act is a national medal 

for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 

with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined 

by reference to the latest statement titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of 

PAYGO Legislation’’ for this Act, submitted for printing in the 

Congressional Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that such statement has been submitted prior 

to the vote on passage. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.