San Diego Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka experienced a moment to remember on July 22 when he received the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of his paternal grandfather at the National Museum of the United States Army in Washington, D.C. As part of the ceremony, Kyle memorialized his grandfather by adding his name to the museum’s registry.

Shigeru Higashioka earned a Bronze Star in World War II as a member of the Army’s 442nd Infantry Regiment, a fighting unit made up almost exclusively of second-generation American soldiers of Japanese ancestry from Hawaii and other mainland states. Many of the more than 12,000 volunteer soldiers in the regiment fought for the Allies in Europe while family members were living in internment camps in the U.S. The regiment’s members coalesced and drew inspiration from their shared motto, “Go for broke.’’

The 442nd Infantry Regiment was acclaimed for its bravery and fighting spirit and received approximately 4,000 Purple Hearts, 560 Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze Stars, seven Presidential Unit Citations and numerous other designations.

The Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award given by the United States Congress, was first presented to George Washington in 1776. In the nearly 250 years since, the list of honorees has included such notables as Thomas Edison, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Roberto Clemente and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Eric Shinseki, the first Asian American four-star general and a former US Secretary of Veterans Affairs, presented the Gold Medal to Kyle in honor of his late grandfather, who died in 2004.