Borinqueneers Congressional Gold Medal Petition

WE SIGN THIS PETITION IN SUPPORT OF A CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL TO BE AWARDED TO THE 65TH INFANTRY REGIMENT BORINQUENEERS.

Of all the honors Congress can bestow, the awarding of a Congressional Gold Medal (CGM) is often considered the most distinguished. The CGM has been bestowed to other minority veterans who served in segregated units, including:

the Navajo Code Talkers (July 26, 2001)
the African-American Tuskegee Airmen (March 29, 2007)
the Japanese-American Nisei (May 26, 2012)
the African-American Montford Point Marines (June 28, 2012).

It would be an honor for the 65th Infantry “Borinqueneers” to be added to this list.

Since the adoption of a CGM for the Borinqueneers would require the support from a majority of our politicians, we respectfully ask members of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to introduce or co-sponsor legislation, and/or strongly support such legislation, to authorize the President of the United States to award a Congressional Gold Medal, on behalf of Congress, to the Puerto Rican American Veterans who courageously served in the U.S. 65th Infantry Regiment.

We feel that bestowing the CGM to the Borinqueneers would be a fitting way to honor them as American heroes who served their country with distinction and fought bravely while enduring the hardships of segregation and discrimination.

This initiative is being spearheaded by the Borinqueneers CGM Alliance, a group comprised of former military personnel and other veterans’ advocates and sponsored by the 65th Infantry Veterans Association, Inc. of Puerto Rico, who are working to obtain the Congressional Gold Medal (CGM) for the veterans of the 65th Infantry Regiment (also known as the Borinqueneers).