company-size probes, full-scale regimental attacks, 
and heavy artillery and mortar fire from Chinese 
forces, earning 14 Silver Stars, 23 Bronze Stars, 
and 67 Purple Hearts, in operations that Major 
General Eugene W. Ridings described as ‘‘highly 
successful in that the enemy was denied the use of 
one of his best routes of approach into the friendly 
position.’’. 
(24) For its extraordinary service during the 
Korean War, the Regiment received two Presidential 
Unit Citations (Army and Navy), two Republic of 
Korea Presidential Unit Citations, a Meritorious 
Unit Commendation (Army), a Navy Unit Com-
mendation, the Bravery Gold Medal of Greece, and 
campaign participation credits for United Nations 
Offensive, CCF Intervention, First United Nations 
Counteroffensive, CCF Spring Offensive, United Na-
tions Summer-Fall Offensive, Second Korean Win-
ter, Korea Summer-Fall 1952, Third Korean Win-
ter, and Korea Summer 1953. 
(25) In Korea, soldiers in the Regiment earned 
a total of 10 Distinguished Service Crosses, approxi-
mately 250 Silver Stars, over 600 Bronze Stars, and 
more than 2,700 Purple Hearts, but—despite nu-
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merous individual acts of uncommon valor—no Med-
als of Honor. 
(26) In all, some 61,000 Puerto Ricans served 
in the United States Army during the Korean War, 
the bulk of them with the 65th Infantry Regiment— 
and over the course of the war, Puerto Rican sol-
diers suffered a disproportionately high casualty 
rate, with over 740 killed and over 2,300 wounded. 
(27) In April 1956, as part of the reduction in 
forces following the Korean War, the 65th Infantry 
Regiment was deactivated from the Regular Army 
and, in February 1959, became the only regular 
Army unit to have ever been transferred to the Na-
tional Guard, when its 1st battalion and its regi-
mental number were assigned to the Puerto Rico 
National Guard, where it has remained ever since. 
(28) In 1982, the United States Army Center 
of Military History officially authorized granting the 
65th Infantry Regiment the special designation of 
‘‘Borinqueneers’’. 
(29) In the years since the Korean War, the 
achievements of the Regiment have been recognized 
in various ways, including— 
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(A) the naming of streets in honor of the 
regiment in San Juan, Puerto Rico and The 
Bronx, New York; 
(B) the erecting of plaques and other 
monuments to honor the Regiment at Arlington 
National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia; the 
San Juan National Historic Site in San Juan, 
Puerto Rico; Ft. Logan National Cemetery in 
Denver, Colorado; and at sites in Boston, Mas-
sachusetts and Ocala, Florida; 
(C) the renaming of a park in Buenaven-
tura Lake, Florida as the ‘‘65th Infantry Vet-
erans Park’’; 
(D) a grant awarded by the New York 
State government to establish a memorial hon-
oring the Regiment at Buffalo & Erie County 
Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York; 
(E) the introduction or adoption of resolu-
tions or proclamations honoring the Regiment 
by the City of Buffalo, New York; the City of 
Deltona, Florida; the City of Kissimmee, Flor-
ida; the City of Orlando, Florida; the City of 
Springfield, Massachusetts; the County of Erie, 
Pennsylvania; the Florida House of Representa-
tives; the New York State Assembly; the New 
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York State Senate; and the Texas State Senate; 
and 
(F) the 1985 issuance of a United States 
Postal Service Korean War Commemorative 
Stamp depicting soldiers from the Regiment. 
(30) In a speech delivered at a September 20, 
2000, ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in 
honor of the Regiment, Secretary of the Army Louis 
Caldera said: ‘‘Even as the 65th struggled against 
all deadly enemies in the field, they were fighting a 
rearguard action against a more insidious adver-
sary—the cumulative effects of ill-conceived military 
policies, leadership shortcomings, and especially ra-
cial and organizational prejudices, all exacerbated by 
America’s unpreparedness for war and the growing 
pains of an Army forced by law and circumstance to 
carry out racial integration. Together these factors 
would take their inevitable toll on the 65th, leaving 
scars that have yet to heal for so many of the regi-
ment’s proud and courageous soldiers.’’. 
(31) Secretary Caldera said: ‘‘To the veterans 
of the 65th Infantry Regiment who, in that far off 
land fifty years ago, fought with rare courage even 
as you endured misfortune and injustice, thank you 
for doing your duty. There can be no greater praise 
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than that for any soldier of the United States 
Army.’’. 
(32) Secretary Caldera noted that ‘‘[t]he men 
of the 65th who served in Korea are a significant 
part of a proud tradition of service’’ that includes 
the Japanese American 442nd Regimental Combat 
Team, the African American Tuskegee Airmen, and 
‘‘many other unsung minority units throughout the 
history of our armed forces whose stories have never 
been fully told.’’. 
(33) The service of the men of the 65th Infan-
try Regiment is emblematic of the contributions to 
the armed forces that have been made by hundreds 
of thousands of brave and patriotic United States 
citizens from Puerto Rico over generations, from 
World War I to the most recent conflicts in Afghani-
stan and Iraq, and in other overseas contingency op-
erations. 
SEC. 2. 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 single gold medal 
of appropriate design in honor of the 65th Infantry Regi-
ment, known as the Borinqueneers, in recognition of its 
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