I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2350 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23d Headquarters, Special 

Troops and the 3133d Signal Service Company, in recognition of their 

unique and highly distinguished service as a ‘‘Ghost Army’’ that conducted deception operations in Europe during World War II. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2019 

Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire (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 23d Headquarters, Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Service 

Company, in recognition of their unique and highly distinguished service as a ‘‘Ghost Army’’ that conducted 

deception operations in Europe 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 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, 

4 comprised of the 23d Headquarters and Head5 quarters Company, Special Troops, the 603d Engi6 neer Camouflage Battalion, the 406th Combat Engi7 neer Company, the 3132d Signal Service Company 

8 and the Signal Company, Special, 23d Head9 quarters, Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Serv10 ice Company were top-secret units of the United 

11 States Army that served in Europe during World 

12 War II. 

13 (2) The 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, was 

14 actively engaged in battlefield operations from June 

15 of 1944 through March of 1945. The 3133d Signal 

16 Service Company was engaged in operations in Italy 

17 in 1945. 

18 (3) The deceptive activities of these units were 

19 integral to several Allied victories across Europe and 

20 reduced American casualties. 

21 (4) In evaluating the performance of these units 

22 after the War, a U.S. Army analysis found that 

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

24 few men which had so great an influence on the out25 come of a major military campaign.’’. 


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1 (5) Many Ghost Army soldiers were citizen-sol2 diers recruited from art schools, advertising agen3 cies, communications companies, and other creative 

4 and technical professions. 

5 (6) The first four members of the 23d Head6 quarters, Special Troops, landed on D-Day and two 

7 became casualties while creating false beach landing 

8 sites. 

9 (7) The 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, se10 cret deception operations commenced in France on 

11 June 14, 1944, when Task Force Mason, a 17-man 

12 detachment of the 23d led by First Lieutenant Ber13 nard Mason, landed at Omaha Beach. Task Force 

14 Mason conducted Operation ELEPHANT between 1 

15 and 4 July, 1944, to draw enemy fire and protect 

16 the 980th Field Artillery Battalion (VIII Corps) as 

17 part of the Normandy Campaign. 

18 (8) Operation ELEPHANT was a prelude to 

19 21 full-scale tactical deceptions completed by the 

20 23d Headquarters, Special Troops. 

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

22 the 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, used inflat23 able tanks, artillery, airplanes and other vehicles, ad24 vanced engineered soundtracks, and skillfully crafted 

25 radio trickery to create the illusion of sizable AmerVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Apr 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2350.IH H2350

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1 ican forces where there were none and to draw the 

2 enemy away from Allied troops. 

3 (10) The 3132d and the 3133d Signal Service 

4 Companies, activated in Pine Camp (now Fort 

5 Drum), New York, at the Army Experimental Sta6 tion in March 1944, were the only two active duty 

7 ‘‘sonic deception’’ ground combat units in World 

8 War II. 

9 (11) Soldiers of the 23d Headquarters, Special 

10 Troops, impersonated other, larger Army units by 

11 sewing counterfeit patches onto their uniforms, 

12 painting false markings on their vehicles, and cre13 ating phony headquarters staffed by fake generals, 

14 all in an effort to feed false information to Axis 

15 spies. 

16 (12) During the Battle of the Bulge, the 23d 

17 Headquarters, Special Troops, created counterfeit 

18 radio traffic to mask the efforts of General George 

19 Patton’s Third Army as it mobilized to break 

20 through to the 101st Airborne and elements of 10th 

21 Armored Division in the besieged Belgian town of 

22 Bastogne. 

23 (13) In its final mission, Operation VIERSEN, 

24 in March 1945, the 23d Headquarters, Special 

25 Troops, conducted a tactical deception that drew 


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1 German units down the Rhine River and away from 

2 the Ninth Army, allowing the Ninth Army to cross 

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

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

5 units, impersonated forty thousand men, or two 

6 complete divisions of American forces, by using fab7 ricated radio networks, soundtracks of construction 

8 work and artillery fire, and more than 600 inflatable 

9 vehicles. According to a military intelligence officer 

10 of the 79th Infantry, ‘‘There is no doubt that Oper11 ation VIERSEN materially assisted in deceiving the 

12 enemy with regard to the real dispositions and inten13 tions of this Army.’’. 

14 (14) Three soldiers of the 23d Headquarters, 

15 Special Troops, gave their lives and dozens were in16 jured in carrying out their mission. 

17 (15) In April 1945, the 3133d Signal Service 

18 Company conducted Operation CRAFTSMAN in 

19 support of Operation SECOND WIND, the success20 ful allied effort to break through the German defen21 sive position to the north of Florence, Italy, known 

22 as the Gothic Line. Along with an attached platoon 

23 of British engineers, who were inflatable decoy spe24 cialists, the 3133d Signal Service Company used 


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1 sonic deception to misrepresent troop locations along 

2 this defensive line. 

3 (16) The activities of the 23d Headquarters, 

4 Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Service Com5 pany remained highly classified for more than forty 

6 years after the war and were never formally recog7 nized. The extraordinary accomplishments of this 

8 unit are deserving of belated official recognition. 

9 (17) The United States is eternally grateful to 

10 the soldiers of the 23d Headquarters, Special Troops 

11 and the 3133d Signal Service Company for their 

12 proficient use of innovative tactics throughout World 

13 War II, which saved lives and made significant con14 tributions to the defeat of the Axis powers. 

15 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

17 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

18 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

19 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of ap20 propriate design to the 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, 

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

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

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

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

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


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

2 inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 

3 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

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

6 medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 

7 where it will be available for display as appropriate 

8 and available for research. 

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

10 the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 

11 should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 

12 this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly 

13 at appropriate locations associated with the Ghost 

14 Army, and that preference should be given to loca15 tions affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. 

16 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

17 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

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

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

21 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDAL. 

22 The gold medal struck pursuant to this Act is a na23 tional medal for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 

24 States Code. 

Æ 


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