II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1688 

To award the Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Office of 

Strategic Services (OSS), collectively, in recognition of their superior 

service and major contributions during World War II. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2013 

Mr. KIRK (for himself and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award the Congressional Gold Medal to the members 

of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), collectively, 

in recognition of their superior service and major contributions 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 ‘‘Office of Strategic 

5 Services Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was 

2 the first effort by the United States to implement a 

3 system of strategic intelligence during World War II 

4 and provided the basis for the modern-day intel5 ligence and special operations communities of the 

6 United States. 

7 (2) OSS founder General William J. Donovan is 

8 the only person in the history of the United States 

9 to receive the 4 highest military decorations of the 

10 United States, including the Medal of Honor. Upon 

11 learning of his death in 1959, President Eisenhower 

12 called General Donovan the ‘‘last hero’’. In addition 

13 to founding and leading the OSS, General Donovan 

14 was also selected by President Roosevelt, who called 

15 General Donovan his ‘‘secret legs’’, as an emissary 

16 to Great Britain and continental Europe before the 

17 United States entered World War II. 

18 (3) During World War II, each branch of the 

19 Armed Forces of the United States contributed per20 sonnel to the OSS. United States Coast Guard per21 sonnel were recruited for the Maritime Unit and the 

22 Operational Swimmer Group. 

23 (4) The present-day United States special oper24 ations forces trace their lineage to the OSS. The 

25 Maritime Unit of the OSS was a precursor to the 


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1 Navy SEALs. The OSS Operational Groups and 

2 Jedburghs were forerunners of the United States 

3 Army Special Forces. The 801st/492nd Bombard4 ment Group (‘‘Carpetbaggers’’) were progenitors of 

5 the United States Air Force Special Operations 

6 Command. The Marines who served in the OSS, in7 cluding the actor Sterling Hayden and Colonel Wil8 liam Eddy, whom General Donovan described as the 

9 ‘‘American Lawrence of Arabia’’, were predecessors 

10 of the United States Marine Corps Forces Special 

11 Operations Command. 

12 (5) The OSS organized, trained, supplied, and 

13 fought with resistance organizations throughout Eu14 rope and Asia that played an important role in the 

15 victory of the United States during World War II. 

16 President Eisenhower credited the work of the OSS 

17 with the French Resistance during the liberation of 

18 France as the equivalent of the French Resistance 

19 having an extra division. 

20 (6) Four future Directors of Central Intel21 ligence served as OSS officers: William Casey, Wil22 liam Colby, Allen Dulles, and Richard Helms. 

(7) Women comprised more than 1 23 ⁄3 of OSS 

24 personnel and played a critical role in the organiza25 tion. These women included Virginia Hall, the only 


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1 civilian female to receive a Distinguished Service 

2 Cross in World War II, and Julia Child. 

3 (8) The OSS recruited Fritz Kolbe, a German 

4 diplomat who became the most important spy of the 

5 United States against the Nazis in World War II. 

6 (9) Leading scientists and scholars in the 

7 United States served in the OSS Research and Anal8 ysis Branch, including Ralph Bunche, the first Afri9 can-American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Pul10 itzer Prize-winning historian Arthur Schlesinger, 

11 Jr., Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, Sher12 man Kent, John King Fairbank, and Walt Rostow. 

13 Its ranks also included 7 future presidents of the 

14 American Historical Association, 5 of the American 

15 Economic Association, and 2 Nobel laureates. The 

16 Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the United 

17 States Department of State traces its creation to the 

18 OSS Research and Analysis Branch. 

19 (10) The OSS invented and employed new tech20 nology through its Research and Development 

21 Branch, including new weapons and revolutionary 

22 communications equipment. Dr. Christian 

23 Lambertsen invented the first underwater breathing 

24 apparatus that was first utilized by the OSS and is 

25 known today as ‘‘SCUBA’’. 


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1 (11) OSS Detachment 101 operated in Burma 

2 and pioneered the art of unconventional warfare. It 

3 was the first unit of the United States to deploy a 

4 large guerrilla army deep in enemy territory. OSS 

5 Detachment 101 has been credited with the highest 

6 kill/loss ratio for any infantry-type unit in the mili7 tary history of the United States and was awarded 

8 a Presidential Unit Citation. 

9 (12) The X–2 branch of the OSS pioneered 

10 counterintelligence with the British and established 

11 the modern counterintelligence community. The net12 work of contacts built by the OSS with foreign intel13 ligence services led to enduring Cold War alliances. 

14 (13) Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of 

15 French North Africa in November 1942, was aided 

16 by the networks established and information ac17 quired by the OSS to guide the landings of the Al18 lies. 

19 (14) OSS Operation Halyard resulted in the 

20 rescue of more than 500 downed airmen trapped be21 hind enemy lines in Yugoslavia, one of the most dar22 ing and successful rescue operations of World War 

23 II. 

24 (15) OSS ‘‘Mercy Missions’’ at the end of 

25 World War II saved the lives of thousands of Allied 


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1 prisoners of war whom it was feared would be mur2 dered by the Japanese. 

3 (16) The handful of surviving men and women 

4 of the OSS, whom General Donovan called his ‘‘glo5 rious amateurs’’, are among the greatest generation. 

6 They have never been collectively recognized for 

7 their heroic and pioneering service in World War II. 

8 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

9 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

10 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem11 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

12 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 

13 medal of appropriate design in commemoration to the 

14 members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), in rec15 ognition of their superior service and major contributions 

16 during World War II. 

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

18 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

19 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec20 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

21 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec22 retary. 

23 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

25 gold medal in commemoration of the members of the 


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1 Office of Strategic Services under subsection (a), the 

2 gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Insti3 tution, where it will be displayed as appropriate and 

4 made available for research. 

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

6 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 

7 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

8 available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 

9 appropriate locations associated with the Office of 

10 Strategic Services. 

11 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

12 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

13 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

14 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

15 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

16 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

17 and the cost of the gold medal. 

18 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

19 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu20 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

21 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

22 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

23 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

24 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

Æ 


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