"Borinqueneers" to Receive Congressional Gold Medal for Service
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
By: Carmel Delshad

May 28, 2014 | WMFE, Orlando - The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have passed bills that will grant the 65th Infantry Regiment the Congressional Gold Medal for their service. The regiment was mostly Puerto Rican, and the majority of the Borinqueneers still live there. Some of the veterans live in Central Florida.

Jose Colon, 95, holds photos from his time in the 65th Infantry Regiment outside Senator Bill Nelson's Orlando office on Wednesday. Colon and two others in Orlando attended an event at Sen. Nelson's office where they were presented with the legislation granting them the Congressional Gold Medal. Photo: Carmel Delshad | WMFE

Army veteran Jose Colon remembers fighting in the dead of winter during the Korean War. Colon and the others in the 65^th Infantry Regiment had little to no supplies to fight off the cold.

Over a century after it was founded in 1899, the remaining ‘Borinqueneers’ will be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for their services during WWI, WWII, and the Korean War.

“They were the best. Nothing, nothing like the Puerto Ricans,” says Colon.

Colon joined the Army in 1937 at the age of 18-and for him, the medal rewards a lifetime of service alongside his companions.

U.S. Senator Bill Nelson co-sponsored the bill, and said it was a long overdue award.

“These are true American heroes, and for years and years they’ve been overlooked. But finally their recognition has come,” Nelson says.

The Borinqueneers conducted the last recorded battalion-sized bayonet assault in U.S. Army history.

President Obama is expected to sign the Legislation, and the Borinqueneers will head to Washington, D.C. for a ceremony.