Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 707 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 19, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs AN ACT To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23d Head- quarters, Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Service Company, in recognition of their unique and highly dis- tinguished service as a ‘‘Ghost Army’’ that conducted deception operations in Europe during World War II. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.RFS H707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 707 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ghost Army Congres- 2 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 The Congress finds the following: 5 (1) The 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, 6 comprised of the 23d Headquarters and Head- 7 quarters Company, Special Troops, the 603d Engi- 8 neer Camouflage Battalion, the 406th Combat Engi- 9 neer Company, the 3132d Signal Service Company 10 and the Signal Company, Special, 23d Head- 11 quarters, Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Serv- 12 ice Company were top-secret units of the United 13 States Army that served in Europe during World 14 War II. 15 (2) The 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, was 16 actively engaged in battlefield operations from June 17 of 1944 through March of 1945. The 3133d Signal 18 Service Company was engaged in operations in Italy 19 in 1945. 20 (3) The deceptive activities of these units were 21 integral to several Allied victories across Europe and 22 reduced American casualties. 23 (4) In evaluating the performance of these units 24 after the War, a U.S. Army analysis found that 25 ‘‘Rarely, if ever, has there been a group of such a 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.RFS H707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 707 RFS few men which had so great an influence on the out- 1 come of a major military campaign.’’. 2 (5) Many Ghost Army soldiers were citizen-sol- 3 diers recruited from art schools, advertising agen- 4 cies, communications companies, and other creative 5 and technical professions. 6 (6) The first four members of the 23d Head- 7 quarters, Special Troops, landed on D-Day and two 8 became casualties while creating false beach landing 9 sites. 10 (7) The 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, se- 11 cret deception operations commenced in France on 12 June 14, 1944, when Task Force Mason, a 17-man 13 detachment of the 23d led by First Lieutenant Ber- 14 nard Mason, landed at Omaha Beach. Task Force 15 Mason conducted Operation ELEPHANT between 1 16 and 4 July, 1944, to draw enemy fire and protect 17 the 980th Field Artillery Battalion (VIII Corps) as 18 part of the Normandy Campaign. 19 (8) Operation ELEPHANT was a prelude to 20 21 full-scale tactical deceptions completed by the 21 23d Headquarters, Special Troops. 22 (9) Often operating on or near the front lines, 23 the 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, used inflat- 24 able tanks, artillery, airplanes and other vehicles, ad- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.RFS H707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 707 RFS vanced engineered soundtracks, and skillfully crafted 1 radio trickery to create the illusion of sizable Amer- 2 ican forces where there were none and to draw the 3 enemy away from Allied troops. 4 (10) The 3132d and the 3133d Signal Service 5 Companies, activated in Pine Camp (now Fort 6 Drum), New York, at the Army Experimental Sta- 7 tion in March 1944, were the only two active duty 8 ‘‘sonic deception’’ ground combat units in World 9 War II. 10 (11) Soldiers of the 23d Headquarters, Special 11 Troops, impersonated other, larger Army units by 12 sewing counterfeit patches onto their uniforms, 13 painting false markings on their vehicles, and cre- 14 ating phony headquarters staffed by fake generals, 15 all in an effort to feed false information to Axis 16 spies. 17 (12) During the Battle of the Bulge, the 23d 18 Headquarters, Special Troops, created counterfeit 19 radio traffic to mask the efforts of General George 20 Patton’s Third Army as it mobilized to break 21 through to the 101st Airborne and elements of 10th 22 Armored Division in the besieged Belgian town of 23 Bastogne. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.RFS H707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 707 RFS (13) In its final mission, Operation VIERSEN, 1 in March 1945, the 23d Headquarters, Special 2 Troops, conducted a tactical deception that drew 3 German units down the Rhine River and away from 4 the Ninth Army, allowing the Ninth Army to cross 5 the Rhine into Germany. On this mission, the 1,100 6 men of the Ghost Army, with the assistance of other 7 units, impersonated forty thousand men, or two 8 complete divisions of American forces, by using fab- 9 ricated radio networks, soundtracks of construction 10 work and artillery fire, and more than 600 inflatable 11 vehicles. According to a military intelligence officer 12 of the 79th Infantry, ‘‘There is no doubt that Oper- 13 ation VIERSEN materially assisted in deceiving the 14 enemy with regard to the real dispositions and inten- 15 tions of this Army.’’. 16 (14) Three soldiers of the 23d Headquarters, 17 Special Troops, gave their lives and dozens were in- 18 jured in carrying out their mission. 19 (15) In April 1945, the 3133d Signal Service 20 Company conducted Operation CRAFTSMAN in 21 support of Operation SECOND WIND, the success- 22 ful allied effort to break through the German defen- 23 sive position to the north of Florence, Italy, known 24 as the Gothic Line. Along with an attached platoon 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.RFS H707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 HR 707 RFS of British engineers, who were inflatable decoy spe- 1 cialists, the 3133d Signal Service Company used 2 sonic deception to misrepresent troop locations along 3 this defensive line. 4 (16) The activities of the 23d Headquarters, 5 Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Service Com- 6 pany remained highly classified for more than forty 7 years after the war and were never formally recog- 8 nized. The extraordinary accomplishments of this 9 unit are deserving of belated official recognition. 10 (17) The United States is eternally grateful to 11 the soldiers of the 23d Headquarters, Special Troops 12 and the 3133d Signal Service Company for their 13 proficient use of innovative tactics throughout World 14 War II, which saved lives and made significant con- 15 tributions to the defeat of the Axis powers. 16 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 17 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 18 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 19 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 20 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of ap- 21 propriate design to the 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, 22 and the 3133d Signal Service Company, known as the 23 ‘‘Ghost Army’’, collectively, in recognition of its unique 24 and incredible service during World War II. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.RFS H707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 HR 707 RFS (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 1 award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 2 Treasury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 3 strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 4 inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 5 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 7 gold medal in honor of the Ghost Army, the gold 8 medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 9 where it will be available for display as appropriate 10 and available for research. 11 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 12 the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 13 should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 14 this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly 15 at appropriate locations associated with the Ghost 16 Army, and that preference should be given to loca- 17 tions affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. 18 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 19 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 20 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 21 sufficient to cover the costs of the medal, including labor, 22 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.RFS H707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 HR 707 RFS SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDAL. 1 The gold medal struck pursuant to this Act is a na- 2 tional medal for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 3 States Code. 4 SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 5 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 6 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 7 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 8 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 9 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 10 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 11 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 12 vote on passage. 13 Passed the House of Representatives May 18, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.RFS H707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS