I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2561 

To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor posthumously 

to Paul A. Smithhisler for acts of valor in November 1918 during 

World War I. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Mr. STIVERS (for himself, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. JOYCE, Mr. 

CHABOT, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. LATTA, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. RENACCI, 

and Mr. TURNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor 

posthumously to Paul A. Smithhisler for acts of valor 

in November 1918 during World War I. 

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 ‘‘Paul A. Smithhisler 

5 Medal of Honor Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR POSTHUMOUS AWARD OF THE 

2 MEDAL OF HONOR TO PAUL A. SMITHHISLER 

3 FOR ACTS OF VALOR DURING WORLD WAR I. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find5 ings: 

6 (1) Paul A. Smithhisler was born in Mount 

7 Vernon, Ohio, on November 2, 1889, and served in 

8 the United States Army during World War I as a 

9 sergeant in the Ohio Army National Guard’s 37th 

10 Infantry Division, nicknamed the ‘‘Buckeye Divi11 sion’’. 

12 (2) In late October 1918, heavily fortified Ger13 man defenses repelled several Allied attempts to 

14 cross the Escaut River in Belgium before the mis15 sion was assigned to the 37th Infantry Division. 

16 (3) In preparation for an attack by the 37th In17 fantry Division across the Escaut River against the 

18 German defenses, the 112th Engineer Regiment of 

19 the Division requested volunteers to conduct a recon20 naissance of the German positions. 

21 (4) Aware of the tremendous risk to his life 

22 presented by the entrenched German forces, includ23 ing machine gun positions and artillery, Sergeant 

24 Smithhisler volunteered to conduct the reconnais25 sance mission. 


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1 (5) Just before midnight on November 1, 1918, 

2 Sergeant Smithhisler swam the 100-foot wide icy 

3 cold water of the Escaut River as Private Frank 

4 Burke, another volunteer, remained prepared to as5 sist him if necessary. 

6 (6) Sergeant Smithhisler successfully mapped 

7 the precise location of German machine gun and ar8 tillery positions and then swam back to the Allied9 held side of the river under heavy fire, which in10 cluded a barrage of poison gas shells. 

11 (7) Private Burke came to Sergeant Smithhis12 ler’s rescue when he reached the steep river bank, 

13 placing a protective mask on Sergeant Smithhisler 

14 while exposing himself to toxins that may have con15 tributed to his death from influenza on December 3, 

16 1918. 

17 (8) Sergeant Smithhisler’s information was vital 

18 to the success of the subsequent Allied attack and 

19 the capture of the enemy’s defenses. 

20 (9) For his bravery, Smithhisler was awarded 

21 the Distinguished Service Cross and the French 

22 Croix de Guerre with Silver Star. 

23 (b) WAIVER OF TIME LIMITATIONS.—Notwith24 standing the time limitations specified in section 3744 of 

25 title 10, United States Code, or any other time limitation 


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1 with respect to the awarding of certain medals to persons 

2 who served in the Armed Forces, the President may award 

3 the Medal of Honor posthumously under section 3741 of 

4 such title to Sergeant Paul A. Smithhisler for the acts of 

5 valor during World War I described in subsection (a) for 

6 which Sergeant Smithhisler originally was awarded the 

7 Distinguished Service Cross. 

8 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con9 gress that, should the President exercise the discretion 

10 provided by subsection (b) to award the Medal of Honor 

11 to Sergeant Paul A. Smithhisler, November 11, 2018, the 

12 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended formal hos13 tilities in western Europe during World War I, would be 

14 an appropriate occasion upon which to make the award. 

Æ 


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