I 

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. 

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 ‘‘Ghost Army Congres5 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops (the 

4 ‘‘Ghost Army’’) was a top-secret unit of the United 

5 States Army that served in the European Theater of 

6 Operations during World War II. 

7 (2) The unit was actively engaged in battlefield 

8 operations from June of 1944 through March of 

9 1945. 

10 (3) The deceptive activities of the Ghost Army 

11 were essential to several Allied victories across Eu12 rope and are estimated to have saved thousands of 

13 lives. 

14 (4) In evaluating the performance of the Ghost 

15 Army after the War, a U.S. Army analysis found 

16 that ‘‘Rarely, if ever, has there been a group of such 

17 a few men which had so great an influence on the 

18 outcome of a major military campaign.’’. 

19 (5) Many Ghost Army soldiers were specially 

20 selected for their mission, and were recruited from 

21 art schools, advertising agencies, communications 

22 companies, and other creative and technical profes23 sions. 

24 (6) The first four members of the Ghost Army 

25 landed on D-Day and two became casualties while 

26 camouflaging early beach installations. 


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1 (7) The Ghost Army’s secret deception oper2 ations commenced in France on June 14, 1944, 

3 when Task Force Mason landed at Omaha Beach to 

4 draw enemy fire and protect the 980th Artillery for 

5 28 days. 

6 (8) Task Force Mason was a prelude to 21 full7 scale tactical deceptions completed by the Ghost 

8 Army. 

9 (9) Often operating on or near the front lines, 

10 the Ghost Army used inflatable tanks, artillery, air11 planes and other vehicles, advanced engineered 

12 soundtracks, and skillfully crafted radio trickery to 

13 create the illusion of sizable American forces where 

14 there were none and to draw the enemy away from 

15 Allied troops. 

16 (10) Ghost Army soldiers impersonated other, 

17 larger Army units by sewing counterfeit patches 

18 onto their uniforms, painting false markings on their 

19 vehicles, and creating phony headquarters staffed by 

20 fake generals, all in an effort to feed false informa21 tion to Axis spies. 

22 (11) During the Battle of the Bulge, the Ghost 

23 Army created counterfeit radio traffic to mask the 

24 efforts of General George Patton’s Third Army as it 

25 mobilized to break through to the 101st Airborne 


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1 and elements of 10th Armored Division in the be2 sieged Belgian town of Bastogne. 

3 (12) In its final mission, Operation Viersen, the 

4 Ghost Army deployed a tactical deception that drew 

5 German units down the Rhine River and away from 

6 the 9th Army, allowing the 9th Army to cross the 

7 Rhine into Germany. On this mission, the 1,100 

8 men of the Ghost Army, with the assistance of other 

9 units, impersonated forty thousand men, or two 

10 complete divisions of American forces, by using fab11 ricated radio networks, soundtracks of construction 

12 work and artillery fire, and more than 600 inflatable 

13 vehicles. 

14 (13) Three Ghost Army soldiers gave their lives 

15 and dozens were injured in carrying out their mis16 sion. 

17 (14) The activities of the Ghost Army remained 

18 classified for more than forty years after the war 

19 and the extraordinary accomplishments of this unit 

20 are deserving of belated recognition. 

21 (15) The United States will be eternally grate22 ful to the Ghost Army for their proficient use of in23 novative tactics throughout World War II, which 

24 saved thousands of lives and were instrumental in 

25 the defeat of Nazi Germany. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

3 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

4 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

5 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of ap6 propriate design to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, 

7 known as the ‘‘Ghost Army’’, collectively, in recognition 

8 of its unique and incredible service during World War II. 

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

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

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

12 strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 

13 inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 

14 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

16 gold medal in honor of the Ghost Army, the gold 

17 medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 

18 where it will be available for display as appropriate 

19 and available for research. 

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

21 the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 

22 should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 

23 this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly 

24 at appropriate locations associated with the Ghost 

25 Army, and that preference should be given to loca26 tions affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. 


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1 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

4 sufficient to cover the costs of the medal, including labor, 

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

6 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

7 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med8 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

9 Code. 

Æ 


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