II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 743 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the soldiers of the 5307th Composite 

Unit (Provisional), commonly known as ‘‘Merrill’s Marauders’’, in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service in the jungles of Burma 

during World War II. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2019 

Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BOOZMAN, 

Mr. COONS, Mr. COTTON, Mr. DAINES, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. ERNST, 

Ms. HASSAN, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. JONES, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

MORAN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. PERDUE, Mr. ROUNDS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, 

Ms. STABENOW, Mr. TESTER, and Ms. WARREN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 

Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the soldiers of 

the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), commonly 

known as ‘‘Merrill’s Marauders’’, in recognition of their 

bravery and outstanding service in the jungles of Burma 

during World War II. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Merrill’s Marauders 

5 Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) in August 1943, President Franklin D. 

4 Roosevelt and other Allied leaders proposed the cre5 ation of a ground unit of the Armed Forces that 

6 would engage in a ‘‘long-range penetration mission’’ 

7 in Japanese-occupied Burma to— 

8 (A) cut off Japanese communications and 

9 supply lines; and 

10 (B) capture the town of Myitkyina and the 

11 Myitkyina airstrip, both of which were held by 

12 the Japanese; 

13 (2) President Roosevelt issued a call for volun14 teers for ‘‘a dangerous and hazardous mission’’ and 

15 the call was answered by approximately 3,000 sol16 diers from the United States; 

17 (3) the Army unit composed of the soldiers de18 scribed in paragraph (2)— 

19 (A) was officially designated as the 

20 ‘‘5307th Composite Unit (Provisional)’’ with 

21 the code name ‘‘Galahad’’; and 

22 (B) later became known as ‘‘Merrill’s Ma23 rauders’’ (referred to in this section as the 

24 ‘‘Marauders’’) in reference to its leader, Briga25 dier General Frank Merrill; 


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1 (4) in February 1944, the Marauders began 

2 their approximately 1,000-mile trek through the 

3 dense Burmese jungle with no artillery support, car4 rying their supplies on their backs or the pack sad5 dles of mules; 

6 (5) over the course of their 5-month trek to 

7 Myitkyina, the Marauders fought victoriously 

8 against larger Japanese forces through 5 major and 

9 30 minor engagements; 

10 (6) during their march to Myitkyina, the Ma11 rauders faced hunger and disease that were exacer12 bated by inadequate aerial resupply drops; 

13 (7) malaria, typhus, and dysentery inflicted 

14 more casualties on the Marauders than the Japa15 nese; 

16 (8) by August 1944, the Marauders had accom17 plished their mission, successfully disrupting Japa18 nese supply and communication lines and taking the 

19 town of Myitkyina and the Myitkyina airstrip, the 

20 only all-weather airstrip in Northern Burma; 

21 (9) after taking Myitkyina, only 130 Marauders 

22 out of the original 2,750 were fit for duty and all 

23 remaining Marauders still in action were evacuated 

24 to hospitals due to tropical diseases, exhaustion, and 

25 malnutrition; 


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1 (10) for their bravery and accomplishments, the 

2 Marauders were awarded the ‘‘Distinguished Unit 

3 Citation’’, later redesignated as the ‘‘Presidential 

4 Unit Citation’’, and a Bronze Star; and 

5 (11) though the Marauders were operational for 

6 only a few months, the legacy of their bravery is 

7 honored by the Army through the modern day 75th 

8 Ranger Regiment, which traces its lineage directly to 

9 the 5307th Composite Unit. 

10 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

11 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 

12 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

13 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

14 award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of 

15 appropriate design to the soldiers of the 5307th Composite 

16 Unit (Provisional) (referred to in this section as ‘‘Merrill’s 

17 Marauders’’), in recognition of their bravery and out18 standing service in the jungles of Burma during World 

19 War II. 

20 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 

21 award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

22 Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

23 strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 

24 inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 

25 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

2 gold medal referred to in subsection (a) in honor of 

3 Merrill’s Marauders, the gold medal shall be given to 

4 the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be dis5 played as appropriate and made available for re6 search. 

7 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

8 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 

9 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

10 available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 

11 locations and events associated with Merrill’s Ma12 rauders. 

13 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

14 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre15 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

16 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 

17 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

18 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

19 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

20 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med21 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

22 Code. 

Æ 


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