United States Army Rangers Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5002 To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the United States Army Rangers Veterans of World War II in recognition of their extraor- dinary service during World War II. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 8, 2019 Mr. CRENSHAW (for himself, Mr. CROW, and Mr. WALTZ) introduced the fol- lowing 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 consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the United States Army Rangers Veterans of World War II in recognition of their extraordinary service 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States Army 4 Rangers Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold 5 Medal Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5002 IH SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 1 In this Act— 2 (1) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 3 of the Treasury; and 4 (2) the term ‘‘United States Army Rangers 5 Veteran of World War II’’ means any individual 6 who— 7 (A) served in the Armed Forces— 8 (i) honorably; 9 (ii) in an active duty status; and 10 (iii) at any time during the period be- 11 ginning on June 19, 1942, and ending on 12 September 2, 1945; and 13 (B) was assigned to a Ranger Battalion of 14 the Army at any time during the period de- 15 scribed in subparagraph (A)(iii). 16 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 17 Congress finds the following: 18 (1) In World War II, the Army formed 6 Rang- 19 er Battalions and 1 provisional battalion. All mem- 20 bers of the Ranger Battalions were volunteers. The 21 initial concept of Ranger units drew from the British 22 method of using highly trained ‘‘commando’’ units 23 and the military tradition of the United States of 24 utilizing light infantry for scouting and raiding oper- 25 ations. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5002 IH (2) The Ranger Battalions of World War II 1 consisted of— 2 (A) the 1st Ranger Infantry Battalion, 3 which was activated on June 19, 1942, in 4 Northern Ireland; 5 (B) the 2nd Ranger Infantry Battalion, 6 which was activated on April 1, 1943, at Camp 7 Forrest, Tennessee; 8 (C) the 3rd Ranger Infantry Battalion, 9 which was— 10 (i) activated as provisional on May 21, 11 1943, in North Africa; and 12 (ii) constituted on July 21, 1943, and 13 concurrently consolidated with the provi- 14 sional unit described in clause (i); 15 (D) the 4th Ranger Infantry Battalion, 16 which was— 17 (i) activated as provisional on May 29, 18 1943, in North Africa; and 19 (ii) constituted on July 21, 1943, and 20 concurrently consolidated with the provi- 21 sional unit described in clause (i); 22 (E) the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion, 23 which was activated on September 1, 1943, at 24 Camp Forrest, Tennessee; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5002 IH (F) the 6th Ranger Infantry Battalion, 1 which was— 2 (i) originally activated on January 20, 3 1941, at Fort Lewis, Washington, as the 4 98th Field Artillery Battalion; and 5 (ii) converted and redesignated on 6 September 26, 1944, as the 6th Ranger 7 Infantry Battalion; and 8 (G) the 29th Ranger Infantry Battalion, a 9 provisional Army National Guard unit that 10 was— 11 (i) activated on December 20, 1942, 12 at Tidworth Barracks, England; and 13 (ii) disbanded on October 18, 1943. 14 (3) The first combat operations of Army Rang- 15 ers occurred on August 19, 1942, when 50 Rangers 16 took part in the British-Canadian raid on the 17 French coastal town of Dieppe. 18 (4) The 1st Ranger Battalion, under the leader- 19 ship of Major William O. Darby, was used in full 20 strength during the landings at Arsew, Algeria, dur- 21 ing the North African campaign. Due to the success 22 of the Rangers in several difficult battles, particu- 23 larly at El Guettar in March and April of 1943, 2 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5002 IH additional Ranger Battalions were organized in 1 North Africa. 2 (5) During the North African campaign, the 1st 3 Ranger Battalion was awarded battle honors for its 4 actions in Tunisia. On March 18, 1943, the Bat- 5 talion penetrated enemy lines and captured the posi- 6 tion Djebel el Auk in a nighttime attack, taking 7 more than 200 prisoners. Two days later, the bat- 8 talion was attacked by the 10th Panzer division of 9 the German Afrika Korps and, despite heavy losses, 10 continued to defend its position. The following day, 11 the 1st Battalion counterattacked to clear high 12 ground overlooking the positions held by the Armed 13 Forces. These actions demonstrated the ability of 14 the Rangers to fight in difficult terrain and the 15 courage to endure despite being outnumbered and 16 exposed to heavy enemy fire. 17 (6) The 29th provisional Ranger Battalion was 18 formed from volunteers drawn from the 29th Infan- 19 try Division stationed in England in the fall of 1942. 20 The Battalion was activated on December 20, 1942, 21 and accompanied British commandos on 2 small- 22 scale raids in Norway. Nineteen members of the 23 29th Ranger Battalion conducted a raid on a Ger- 24 man radar site in France on the night of September 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5002 IH 3, 1943. After that raid, the 29th Ranger Battalion 1 was disbanded because new Ranger units, the 2nd 2 and 5th Battalions, were being formed. 3 (7) During the summer and fall of 1943, the 4 1st, 3rd, and 4th Ranger Battalions were heavily in- 5 volved in the campaign in Sicily and the landings in 6 Italy. The 1st and 4th Ranger Battalions conducted 7 a night amphibious landing in Sicily and secured the 8 landing beaches for the main force. The 3rd Bat- 9 talion landed separately at Licata, Sicily, and was 10 able to silence gun positions on an 82-foot cliff over- 11 looking the invasion beaches. 12 (8) During the invasion of Italy, the 1st and 13 4th Ranger Battalions landed at Maori with the mis- 14 sion of seizing the high ground and protecting the 15 flank of the remainder of the main landing by the 16 United States. Enemy forces in the area were esti- 17 mated to outnumber the Rangers by approximately 18 eight to one. Despite these odds, the Rangers took 19 the position and held off 7 enemy counterattacks. 20 (9) After the invasion of Italy, Rangers contin- 21 ued to be used, often in night attacks to seize key 22 terrain ahead of the advancing Allied forces. At the 23 Anzio beachhead, the majority of the 1st, 3rd, and 24 4th Ranger Battalions sustained heavy casualties 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 5002 IH after being cut off behind German lines. The Rang- 1 ers had planned to infiltrate German positions under 2 the cover of darkness and make a dawn attack on 3 a critical road junction but were pinned down by 4 enemy tanks and an elite German paratrooper unit. 5 After 12 hours of desperate fighting and a failed re- 6 lief attempt, the majority of the Ranger force was 7 killed, wounded, or captured. Only 6 Rangers from 8 the 1st and 3rd Battalions, out of more than 767 9 men, returned to friendly lines. The 4th Battalion, 10 which had been in reserve, also suffered 60 killed 11 and 120 wounded out of 550 men. These 3 battal- 12 ions were inactivated and the survivors were trans- 13 ferred to other units. 14 (10) In the United States, and later in Scot- 15 land, the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions were 16 formed to undertake operations in Western Europe. 17 Those Battalions were engaged on D-Day, assault- 18 ing German positions at the Pointe du Hoc coastal 19 battery, and remained in combat through September 20 of 1944. Specifically, Rangers in the 2nd Battalion, 21 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James E. 22 Rudder— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 5002 IH (A) overcame underwater mines, machine 1 gun fire, and enemy artillery while scaling the 2 100-foot high cliffs at Pointe du Hoc; 3 (B) held against intense German efforts to 4 retake the position; and 5 (C) after reaching the top of the cliffs, 6 moved inland roughly 1 mile and sustained 7 heavy casualties while searching for, and ulti- 8 mately destroying, a German heavy artillery 9 battery. 10 (11) During June, July, and August of 1944, 11 the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions were engaged in 12 the campaign in Brest, which included close-range 13 fighting in hedgerows and numerous villages. Later, 14 in operations in Western Germany, the Battalions 15 were frequently used to attack in darkness and gain 16 vital positions to pave the way for the main Army 17 attacks. 18 (12) During the final drive into Germany in 19 late February and early March 1945, the 5th Rang- 20 er Battalion was cited for battle honors for out- 21 standing performance. Under the cover of darkness, 22 the unit drove into German lines and seized high 23 ground blocking the main German supply route in 24 the sector. The Germans attacked the position of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 5002 IH Rangers from both sides, resulting in heavy Ranger 1 casualties during 5 days of fighting. As a result of 2 the actions of the Rangers, the main Army attack 3 was able to overcome German defenses more easily, 4 occupy the vital city of Trier, and reach the Rhine 5 River. 6 (13) The 6th Ranger Battalion operated in the 7 Pacific. In the most notable exploit of the 6th Rang- 8 er Battalion, in January and February of 1945, the 9 Battalion formed the nucleus of a rescue force that 10 liberated more than 500 Allied prisoners, including 11 prisoners from the United States, from the Caba- 12 natuan prisoner of war camp in the Philippines. 13 With the help of local Filipino guerillas, the Rang- 14 ers, led by Lieutenant Colonel Henry A. Mucci, dem- 15 onstrated extraordinary heroism by infiltrating Jap- 16 anese-held territory to reach the prisoners of war 17 and prevent them from being killed by the Japanese. 18 After a 25-mile march at night through the jungle, 19 the unit killed all Japanese sentries with no loss of 20 life of the prisoners of war. The unit successfully re- 21 turned to American lines having lost only 2 soldiers 22 killed and having another 2 wounded. 23 (14) The 1st Ranger Infantry Battalion— 24 (A) participated in the campaigns of— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 5002 IH (i) Algeria-French Morocco (with ar- 1 rowhead); 2 (ii) Tunisia; 3 (iii) Sicily (with arrowhead); 4 (iv) Naples-Foggia (with arrowhead); 5 (v) Anzio (with arrowhead); and 6 (vi) Rome-Arno; and 7 (B) for its contributions, received— 8 (i) the Presidential Unit Citation 9 (Army) and streamer embroidered with 10 ‘‘EL GUETTAR’’; and 11 (ii) the Presidential Unit Citation 12 (Army) and streamer embroidered with 13 ‘‘SALERNO’’. 14 (15) The 2nd Ranger Infantry Battalion— 15 (A) participated in the campaigns of— 16 (i) Normandy (with arrowhead); 17 (ii) Northern France; 18 (iii) Rhineland; 19 (iv) Ardennes-Alsace; and 20 (v) Central Europe; and 21 (B) for its contributions, received— 22 (i) the Presidential Unit Citation 23 (Army) and streamer embroidered with 24 ‘‘POINTE DU HOC’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 5002 IH (ii) the French Croix de Guerre with 1 Silver-Gilt Star, World War II, and 2 streamer embroidered with ‘‘POINTE DU 3 HOC’’. 4 (16) The 3rd Ranger Infantry Battalion— 5 (A) participated in the campaigns of— 6 (i) Sicily (with arrowhead); 7 (ii) Naples-Foggia (with arrowhead); 8 (iii) Anzio (with arrowhead); and 9 (iv) Rome-Arno; and 10 (B) for its contributions, received the Pres- 11 idential Unit Citation (Army) and streamer em- 12 broidered with ‘‘SALERNO’’. 13 (17) The 4th Ranger Infantry Battalion— 14 (A) participated in the campaigns of— 15 (i) Sicily (with arrowhead); 16 (ii) Naples-Foggia (with arrowhead); 17 (iii) Anzio (with arrowhead); and 18 (iv) Rome-Arno; and 19 (B) for its contributions, received the Pres- 20 idential Unit Citation (Army) and streamer em- 21 broidered with ‘‘SALERNO’’. 22 (18) The 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion— 23 (A) participated in the campaigns of— 24 (i) Normandy (with arrowhead); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 5002 IH (ii) Northern France; 1 (iii) Rhineland; 2 (iv) Ardennes-Alsace; and 3 (v) Central Europe; and 4 (B) for its contributions, received— 5 (i) the Presidential Unit Citation 6 (Army) and streamer embroidered with 7 ‘‘NORMANDY BEACHHEAD’’; 8 (ii) the Presidential Unit Citation 9 (Army) and streamer embroidered with 10 ‘‘SAAR RIVER AREA’’; and 11 (iii) the French Croix de Guerre with 12 Silver-Gilt Star, World War II, and 13 streamer embroidered with ‘‘NOR- 14 MANDY’’. 15 (19) The 6th Ranger Infantry Battalion— 16 (A) participated in the campaigns of— 17 (i) New Guinea; 18 (ii) Leyte (with arrowhead); and 19 (iii) Luzon; and 20 (B) for its contributions, received— 21 (i) the Presidential Unit Citation 22 (Army) and streamer embroidered with 23 ‘‘CABU, LUZON’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:27 Nov 16, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5002.IH H5002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 5002 IH (ii) the Philippine Presidential Unit 1 Citation and streamer embroidered with 2 ‘‘17 OCTOBER 1944 TO 4 JULY 1945’’. 3 (20) The United States will be forever indebted 4 to the United States Army Rangers Veterans of 5 [Text truncated for display. 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