Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act

Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act

This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known collectively as the "Ghost Army," in recognition of its service during World War II.

The bill expresses the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the medal available for display elsewhere, particularly at appropriate locations associated with the Ghost Army, and that preference should be given to locations affiliated with the Smithsonian.

[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2170 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2170

 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23rd Headquarters Special 
 Troops, known as the ``Ghost Army'', collectively, in recognition of 
         its unique and incredible service during World War II.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2015

   Ms. Kuster (for herself and Mr. King of New York) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23rd Headquarters Special 
 Troops, known as the ``Ghost Army'', collectively, in recognition of 
         its unique and incredible service during World War II.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops (the ``Ghost 
        Army'') was a top-secret unit of the United States Army that 
        served in the European Theater of Operations during World War 
        II.
            (2) The unit was actively engaged in battlefield operations 
        from June of 1944 through March of 1945.
            (3) The deceptive activities of the Ghost Army were 
        essential to several Allied victories across Europe and are 
        estimated to have saved thousands of lives.
            (4) In evaluating the performance of the Ghost Army after 
        the War, a U.S. Army analysis found that ``Rarely, if ever, has 
        there been a group of such a few men which had so great an 
        influence on the outcome of a major military campaign.''.
            (5) Many Ghost Army soldiers were specially selected for 
        their mission, and were recruited from art schools, advertising 
        agencies, communications companies, and other creative and 
        technical professions.
            (6) The first four members of the Ghost Army landed on D-
        Day and two became casualties while camouflaging early beach 
        installations.
            (7) The Ghost Army's secret deception operations commenced 
        in France on June 14, 1944, when Task Force Mason landed at 
        Omaha Beach to draw enemy fire and protect the 980th Artillery 
        for 28 days.
            (8) Task Force Mason was a prelude to 21 full-scale 
        tactical deceptions completed by the Ghost Army.
            (9) Often operating on or near the front lines, the Ghost 
        Army used inflatable tanks, artillery, airplanes and other 
        vehicles, advanced engineered soundtracks, and skillfully 
        crafted radio trickery to create the illusion of sizable 
        American forces where there were none and to draw the enemy 
        away from Allied troops.
            (10) Ghost Army soldiers impersonated other, larger Army 
        units by sewing counterfeit patches onto their uniforms, 
        painting false markings on their vehicles, and creating phony 
        headquarters staffed by fake generals, all in an effort to feed 
        false information to Axis spies.
            (11) During the Battle of the Bulge, the Ghost Army created 
        counterfeit radio traffic to mask the efforts of General George 
        Patton's Third Army as it mobilized to break through to the 
        101st Airborne and elements of 10th Armored Division in the 
        besieged Belgian town of Bastogne.
            (12) In its final mission, Operation Viersen, the Ghost 
        Army deployed a tactical deception that drew German units down 
        the Rhine River and away from the 9th Army, allowing the 9th 
        Army to cross the Rhine into Germany. On this mission, the 
        1,100 men of the Ghost Army, with the assistance of other 
        units, impersonated forty thousand men, or two complete 
        divisions of American forces, by using fabricated radio 
        networks, soundtracks of construction work and artillery fire, 
        and more than 600 inflatable vehicles.
            (13) Three Ghost Army soldiers gave their lives and dozens 
        were injured in carrying out their mission.
            (14) The activities of the Ghost Army remained classified 
        for more than forty years after the war and the extraordinary 
        accomplishments of this unit are deserving of belated 
        recognition.
            (15) The United States will be eternally grateful to the 
        Ghost Army for their proficient use of innovative tactics 
        throughout World War II, which saved thousands of lives and 
        were instrumental in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate 
arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal 
of appropriate design to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known as 
the ``Ghost Army'', collectively, in recognition of its unique and 
incredible service during World War II.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (in this Act referred 
to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the gold medal with suitable 
emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Smithsonian Institution.--
            (1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal in 
        honor of the Ghost Army, the gold medal shall be given to the 
        Smithsonian Institution, where it will be available for display 
        as appropriate and available for research.
            (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of the Congress 
        that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal 
        awarded pursuant to this Act available for display elsewhere, 
        particularly at appropriate locations associated with the Ghost 
        Army, and that preference should be given to locations 
        affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck under section 3, at a price sufficient to cover the costs 
of the medal, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses.

SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS.

    Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for purposes 
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
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