Congressional Gold Medal approved for WWI’s Harlem Hellfighters

Congress on Monday agreed to award a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal to the Harlem Hellfighters, a black New York Nationwide Guard unit that fought in World Warfare I.

The medal is the very best US civilian award alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom and has been awarded fewer than 200 occasions — most lately to police forces concerned within the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Though the lads of the 369th Infantry Regiment are lifeless, the medal was sought by their descendants and pushed by New Yorkers who stated the unit wasn’t sufficiently celebrated on the time.

Reps. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) sponsored the invoice, which handed the Home in June and the Senate on Monday evening.

The Hellfighters spent 191 days within the trenches of France earlier than the conflict ended. About 1,400 of its males have been killed or wounded, greater than some other regiment, in keeping with the congressional workplaces.

Though the conflict usually is remembered as a battle between European imperial powers, Gillibrand stated in a press release that the New Yorkers fought to “defend our freedoms.”

“The Harlem Hellfighters Congressional Gold Medal Act honors these courageous males, who, whilst they confronted segregation and prejudice, risked their lives to defend our freedoms,” Gillibrand stated.

The laws was drafted by Suozzi after the household of Hellfighter Sgt. Leander Willet contacted him about an finally profitable Purple Coronary heart request.

Willet’s granddaughter Deb Willett stated in a current assertion that “it’s our hope that this laws will assist educate future generations concerning the sacrifices made on their behalf.”

Suozzi informed The Put up “it’s by no means too late to do the best factor. Once I first met with these households and heard their tales, I knew we needed to get this carried out. As we speak, we bought it carried out.”

President Biden is predicted to signal the invoice. The medal could be given to the Smithsonian museums to be publicly displayed.