{"id":4816,"date":"2011-11-17T15:23:40","date_gmt":"2011-11-17T19:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/apanews.si.edu\/?p=4816"},"modified":"2014-12-30T21:54:03","modified_gmt":"2014-12-30T21:54:03","slug":"congressional-gold-medal-recaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/congressional-gold-medal-recaps\/","title":{"rendered":"Congressional Gold Medal &#8211; Event Recaps"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 563px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/apaprogram\/sets\/72157628001592361\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"        \" title=\"Nisei Veteran George Joe Sakato and Senator Dan Inouye\" src=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2011\/11\/6355509961_8212aeb33a_z.jpg\" alt=\"Nisei Veteran George Joe Sakato and Senator Dan Inouye\" width=\"553\" height=\"368\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left: Nisei Veteran and Medal of Honor recipient George Joe Sakato of Denver and Senator Dan Inouye at the Gala dinner on November 1, 2011 (Washington Hilton Hotel). Photo by Kris Ikejiri.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 196px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/apaprogram\/sets\/72157628001592361\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" \" title=\"Congressional Gold Medal\" src=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2011\/11\/6344112835_6c38f70b18.jpg\" alt=\"Congressional Gold Medal\" width=\"186\" height=\"250\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ceremony program and the Congressional Gold Medal<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Related Links:<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/apanews.si.edu\/2011\/11\/01\/congressional-gold-medal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/apanews.si.edu\/2011\/11\/01\/congressional-gold-medal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read more about the Congressional Gold Medal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/artandhistory.house.gov\/house_history\/goldMedal.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">List of the Congressional Gold Medal recipients<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usmint.gov\/pressroom\/?action=press_release&amp;id=1299\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">United States Mint press release<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/apaprogram\/sets\/72157628001592361\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Photos of the Medal and events<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Members of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program attended events celebrating the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Japanese Americans who served in the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service. Their Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor in the U.S., was donated to the National Museum of American History.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here is our recap of key events:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On the morning of November 2, more than 1,250 veterans and family representatives gathered at Emancipation Hall in the Capitol for the Congressional Gold Medal (CGM) Ceremony. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) gave the opening remarks followed by: Majority Leader of the United States Senate Harry Reid (D-NV); Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (KY); Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA); Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA); Representative Ralph Hall (R-TX); Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA); Senator John McCain (R-AZ); and Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) who also served in the 442nd\u00a0Regimental Combat Team.\u00a0Inouye stated:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>70 years ago we were enemy aliens, but today, this great Nation honors us in this special ceremony. We, gathered here this morning, are all proud Americans, and grateful to our nation for giving us the opportunity to serve our nation as loyal, patriotic citizens.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That evening in the International Ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel, close to 2,500 people gathered for the gala dinner program featuring General Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs,\u00a0as the keynote speaker. Shinseki stated:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>I know that today&#8217;s ceremony brings with it some deep and complex emotions for the Veterans here tonight. Those who survive war know that others, those who fought and died, whose stories are known only to God, never received their deserved recognitions. The Congressional Gold Medal corrects those oversights of history.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The Smithsonian is honored to host this symbol of honor, sacrifice, and freedom.\u00a0 The Congressional Gold Medal will be on display in the near future. \u00a0Replicas of the Congressional Gold Medal are available for purchase from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.usmint.gov\/pressroom\/?action=press_release&amp;id=1299\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">U.S. Mint<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 243px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/apaprogram\/sets\/72157628001592361\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" \" title=\"Congressional Gold Medal White House Briefing\" src=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2011\/11\/6355507159_a9d50619bb.jpg\" alt=\"Congressional Gold Medal White House Briefing\" width=\"233\" height=\"218\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Click for more photos<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Honorees attending the Congressional Gold Medal Celebration were invited to the White House for a briefing on November 3, 2011, at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Eisenhower served as commander of the Allied forces in Europe during WWII, thus the venue was especially fitting for this occasion. <a href=\"http:\/\/apa.si.edu\/\">Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program<\/a>\u00a0 and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jacl.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Japanese American Citizens League<\/a> staff joined in recognizing the Japanese American Army veterans of the 442nd\u00a0Regimental Combat Team, the 100th\u00a0Infantry Battalion, and the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) of the United States Army for their distinguished service during WWII.<\/p>\n<p>These veterans received the <a href=\"http:\/\/artandhistory.house.gov\/house_history\/goldMedal.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Congressional Gold Medal<\/a> in a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Congress on November 2, 2011. The Congressional Gold Medal represents the highest expression of national appreciation for their sacrifice in combat and for battling racial prejudices against Japanese Americans during imprisonment. Their victory abroad was a victory at home because their legacy has continued to touch future generations of Japanese Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Invited speakers included:<br \/>\n<strong>Shin Inouye<\/strong>,\u00a0Director, Specialty Media<br \/>\n<strong>David Mineta<\/strong>,\u00a0Deputy Director, Demand Reduction<br \/>\n<strong>Danielle Gray<\/strong>,\u00a0Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Policy<br \/>\n<strong>Chris Lu<\/strong>,\u00a0Cabinet Secretary, Assistant to the President<br \/>\n<strong>Ronald Sagudan<\/strong>,\u00a0Program Analyst, Center for Minority Veterans<br \/>\n<strong>Earl S. Newsome III<\/strong>,\u00a0Deputy Director, Center for Minority Veterans<\/p>\n<p>While the Congressional Gold Medal recipients never asked for this recognition, it has been long overdue. The valiant service of these men stands as a punctuation point in history.<\/p>\n<p><em>Recaps provided by Noriko Sanefuji, Curatorial Assistant, National Museum of American History and\u00a0Krista Aniel, Program Assistant, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Related Links: Read more about the Congressional Gold Medal List of the Congressional Gold Medal recipients United States Mint press release Photos of the Medal and events Members of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program attended events celebrating the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4816"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7790,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4816\/revisions\/7790"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}