Photo By Staff Sgt. Jordan Sivayavirojna | New York Senator Charles Schumer, the Senate Majority leader, announces the award of a...... read more read more
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NEW YORK -- The halls of the Harlem Armory were crowded with cameras on Friday, August 13, as Representative Thomas Suozzi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that Congress had voted to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 369th Infantry Regiment.
The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award bestowed by U.S. Congress and is given to an individual or group who performs an outstanding deed or act of service to the security, prosperity, and national interest of the United States.
This makes the 369th, nicknamed the Harlem Hellfighters, the third African American military unit to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, following the Tuskegee Airmen in 2007 and the Montford Point Marines in 2011.
The Tuskegee Airmen were African-American fighter pilots who trained at Tuskegee University prior to flying bomber escort missions during World War II.
The Montford Point Marines were the first Black Americans to be allowed to join the Marine Corps in World War II. They took their name from Montford Point, North Carolina, where they trained.
The Harlem Hellffighters, an all-Black unit of New York National Guard Soldiers, became famous for never losing a man as a prisoner, and fighting in the front lines longer than any other American unit in World War I.
“We are glad to finally give them the recognition they deserve,” Schumer said.
French Deputy Consul General Damien Laban also attended the ceremony and praised the men who fought with the 369th Infantry.
“On behalf of France, we owe them an eternal debt,” Laban said. “They were exemplary men and true American heroes,” he said.
New York Army National Guard Col. Seth Morgulas, the commander of the 369th Sustainment Brigade, said the Soldiers of the Harlem Hellfighters today appreciate the honor bestowed on the Soldiers who went before them.
“As we continue to recognize feats of valor and bravery from the past, young and future Soldiers will be inspired to follow the same paths,” he said.
Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. Curtis Moss, the senior enlisted Soldier in the modern-day Hellfighters, said the recognition from Congress was “an honor.”
“Because they were a colored regiment, not a lot of attention was paid to them when they returned,” Moss said. “This an effort to make that right.”
A Congressional Gold Medal must be sponsored by two-thirds of the members of the 405-member House of Representatives and the 100-member Senate, Suozzi said.
After President Joseph Biden approves the measure, which he is expected to do, the United States Mint creates a coin to commemorate the person or group’s achievement.
This means every Congressional Gold Medal is unique and different, Suozzi said.
| Date Taken: | 08.16.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 08.16.2021 14:23 |
| Story ID: | 403169 |
| Location: | NEW YORK, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 299 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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