Secretary of Veteran Affairs, General Eric Shinseki, will attend the opening ceremony this morning welcoming the Congressional Gold Medal tour to Portland, Oregon, reports Oregon Public Radio.
The medal was presented to members of the 442nd Regimental Combat team, the Military Intelligence Service and the 100th Infantry Batallion.–segregated Japanese American units made up of men who had been incarcerated because of their ancestry in World War II
“For a youngster from my background, these were truly the giants I grew up with,” Shinseki said yesterday. “For me, tomorrow is going to be a great day for me to say thanks — for a lifetime. They’ve been the legends I’ve heard about; I get a chance to meet them.”
You can read more of General Shinseki’s comments in Oregon Public Radio.
