In parting act, Rep. Janice Hahn helps win Congressional Gold Medal for US Merchant Marines

Legislation sponsored by U.S. Reps. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, and Susan Brooks of Indiana was passed Wednesday awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to surviving World War II Merchant Marine veterans.

The Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom are the highest civilian awards in the United States.

 

More than 200,000 Americans served in the U.S. Merchant Marines in World War II and thousands of them faced enemy attack and died at sea. Others were captured and held as prisoners of war.

Hahn has led the effort in Congress to provide surviving World War II Merchant Marine veterans with a $25,000 benefit for the years they went without veterans’ benefits or the GI bill.

Hahn recently was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, where she will be sworn into office Monday.