Padres catcher receives replica medal for grandpa’s WWII service

San Diego Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka received a replica of the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to his grandfather’s World War II unit Monday during a ceremony at the National Museum of the United States Army.

The late G. Shigeru Higashioka was part of the 100th Infantry Battalion of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a unit made up Nisei soldiers — second-generation Japanese Americans who demanded the opportunity to join the armed forces even after President Franklin Roosevelt ordered Japanese Americans on the West Coast to be incarcerated in camps.

US Army honors Japanese American unit that liberated Tuscany in WWII

After retired Gen. Eric Shinseki presented the younger Higashioka the medal, he received a tour of the museum.

“It was a really cool experience, just learning more about my grandfather’s time in the war, because before this year I really didn’t know much about it at all,” Higashioka said. “So it was really cool to hear from the general and the National Veterans Network, who did a lot of research.”

The unit was first presented the Congressional Gold Medal in 2011.

Higashioka said he looked at a digital soldier registry that included an entry on his family’s behalf for his grandfather detailing what he did during the war. He also saw an exhibit for Nisei soldiers as well as artifacts and medals during his visit.

“I never got a chance to talk to him about any of that stuff,” Higashioka said. “It was cool to hear the stories of all the battles he fought in. It was actually a long time he was fighting because he was fighting in Europe. They were pretty heavily utilized. It’s pretty amazing he even survived.”