(1) Young Oak Kim was born in Los Angeles 
in 1919 to Korean American immigrants, where his 
family faced numerous challenges. After high school, 
Kim enrolled in Los Angeles City College, but 
dropped out after a year to find work to help sup-
port his family. 
(2) Because of racial discrimination, Kim strug-
gled to keep employed. With the outbreak of World 
War II (WWII), Kim tried to enlist in the United 
States Army, but that opportunity was closed off to 
him, too, as an Asian American. However, after 
Congress extended conscription to Asian Americans, 
Kim was drafted into the Army, entering the service 
on January 31, 1941. 
(3) From the earliest days of Kim’s service in 
the United States Army, he distinguished himself as 
a leader, being selected for the Infantry Officer Can-
didate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon his 
commission as a second lieutenant in 1943, Kim was 
assigned to the all-Japanese American 100th Infan-
try Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team. 
(4) Young Oak Kim was assigned as an officer 
of the 100th Infantry Battalion that was formed on 
June 5, 1942, comprised of predominantly second- 
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generation Americans of Japanese ancestry from the 
Hawaiian Islands. 
(5) When Kim reported to duty, his com-
manding officer gave Kim the option to transfer due 
to the historical conflicts between the Japanese and 
Koreans, but Kim stated, ‘‘Sir, they’re Americans 
and I am an American. And we’re going to fight for 
America.’’. 
(6) The 100th Infantry Battalion was deployed 
to the Mediterranean and entered combat in Italy on 
September 26, 1943. The 100th Battalion fought at 
Cassino, Italy, in January 1944, and later accom-
panied the 34th Infantry Division to Anzio, Italy. 
(7) Kim’s most notable feat occurred at the 
Battle of Anzio. During broad daylight he volun-
teered to capture German soldiers for intelligence in-
formation. He and another soldier crawled more 
than 600 yards located directly under German obser-
vation posts with no cover. They captured two pris-
oners and obtained information that significantly 
contributed to the fall of Rome. For his actions, Kim 
received the Distinguished Service Cross from the 
United States and the Military Valor Cross, the 
highest military decoration in Italy. 
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(8) The 100th Infantry Battalion was formally 
made an integral part of the 442nd Regimental 
Combat Team on June 15, 1944, and fought for the 
last 11 months of the war with distinction in Italy, 
southern France, and Germany. The 442nd Regi-
mental Team became the most decorated unit in 
United States military history for its size and length 
of service. The 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regi-
mental Combat Team, received 7 Presidential Unit 
Citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished 
Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze 
Stars, 22 Legion of Merit Medals, 15 Soldier’s Med-
als, and over 4,000 Purple Hearts, among numerous 
additional distinctions. 
(9) When the Korean war broke out in 1950, 
Kim rejoined the United States Army and partici-
pated in the United Nations Forces’ last drive into 
Korea. As commander of the First Battalion, 31st 
Infantry Regiment, he became the first officer of 
color in United States history to command an Army 
battalion on the battlefield. 
(10) In Seoul, he led his battalion in sponsoring 
an orphanage of more than 500 children. The bat-
talion was the only United Nations military unit to 
sponsor an orphanage during the war. 
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(11) In 1972, Kim retired from the Army at 
the rank of Colonel. By the end of his career, Kim 
had earned the Distinguished Service Cross, two Sil-
ver Stars, two Bronze Stars, three Purple Hearts, 
two Legions of Merit, and several military com-
mendations 
from 
foreign 
governments—Italy’s 
Bronze Medal of Military Valor and Military Valor 
Cross, France’s La Legion D’Honneur, and the Re-
public of Korea’s Taeguk Order of Military Merit. 
(12) Kim returned to his native Los Angeles 
and became a civic leader. In 1975, he established 
the Koreatown Youth and Community Center in Los 
Angeles to support recently immigrated Korean 
youth who were struggling with poverty and lan-
guage barriers, which today serves a broad multi- 
ethnic population of 11,000 people in the greater 
Los Angeles area. 
(13) In 1978, Kim helped establish the Center 
for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF), an organiza-
tion providing culturally and linguistically appro-
priate domestic violence and sexual assault services 
to the pan-Asian immigrant community. Under his 
leadership as CPAF’s chairman, the organization be-
came the largest women’s shelter in Southern Cali-
fornia in the 1990s. 
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(14) In 1986, Kim founded the Korean Health, 
Education, 
Information 
and 
Research 
Center 
(KHEIR), a nonprofit service agency providing cul-
turally and linguistically sensitive health care and 
human services to the uninsured and underserved 
residents of Los Angeles. Today KHEIR operates 
two clinics that can accommodate more than 75,000 
patient visits annually and is the only federally 
qualified health center in the United States that 
serves a majority Korean patient base, with all serv-
ices available in English, Korean, and Spanish. 
(15) In 1985, Kim co-founded the Japanese 
American National Museum (JANM), which pro-
motes understanding and appreciation of America’s 
ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japa-
nese American experience. 
(16) In 1989, Kim founded and served as the 
Chairman of the 100th/442nd/MIS WWII Memorial 
Foundation, which is now known as the Go for 
Broke National Education Center. Kim led a cam-
paign with veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 
442nd RCT and Military Intelligence Service to 
build the Go for Broke Monument, in downtown Los 
Angeles, which serves as a tribute to the Japanese 
American soldiers of World War II. 
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(17) Kim’s contributions in the 1980s and 
1990s also included founding the Korean American 
Museum and the Korean American Coalition, both 
entities dedicated to understanding the Korean 
American experience and addressing its issues and 
needs. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con-
gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design, in commemo-
ration of Colonel Young Oak Kim, in recognition of his 
achievements and contributions to heroism, leadership, 
and humanitarianism. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 
devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec-
retary. 
(c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 
gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 
shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 
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it shall be available for display 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 received under paragraph (1) 
available for— 
(A) display, particularly at the National 
Portrait Gallery; or 
(B) loan, as appropriate, so that the medal 
may be displayed elsewhere. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 
under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu-
ant this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 
51 of title 31, United States Code. 
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 
5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 
struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 
items. 
Æ 
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