II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4193 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the brave women 

who served in World War II as members of the U.S. Army Nurse 

Corps and U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2022 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. DAINES, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. KING, Ms. 

WARREN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BRAUN, and Mrs. BLACKBURN) 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, collectively, to the 

brave women who served in World War II as members 

of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and U.S. Navy Nurse 

Corps. 

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 ‘‘WWII Nurses Con5 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) On December 8, 1941, the United States 

2 declared war against the Empire of Japan, followed 

3 by declarations of war against Germany and Italy on 

4 December 11, 1941. In 1935, there were fewer than 

5 600 U.S. Army Nurses and 1,700 U.S. Navy Nurses 

6 on active duty. By the time World War II ended, 

7 more than 59,000 Army Nurses and 14,000 Navy 

8 Nurses had volunteered to serve. 

9 (2) The Army Reorganization Act of 1920 

10 granted women in the Nurse Corps ‘‘relative rank.’’ 

11 This gave them the right to wear the military insig12 nia, but did not confer military status or privileges. 

13 This arrangement meant women serving throughout 

14 WWII received 50 percent of the pay as compared 

15 to their male counterparts, and none of the veteran 

16 benefits. Because they did not receive military sta17 tus, they received no orientation or training before 

18 being deployed to hospitals near the frontlines. 

19 (3) Nurses served under fire in field hospitals 

20 and evacuation hospitals across six continents, on 

21 hospital trains and ships, and as flight nurses on 

22 medical transport planes. Several nurses were killed 

23 in action when their ships were torpedoed or field 

24 hospitals were bombed. Some even entered into com25 bat areas as flight nurses to retrieve the wounded, 


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1 and 2 groups were captured as prisoners of war by 

2 the Japanese. 

3 (4) General Douglas MacArthur ordered Army 

4 nurses to the Bataan Peninsula to prepare 2 emer5 gency hospitals for U.S. and Filipino forces. General 

6 Hospital 1 received casualties directly from the front 

7 lines, and more than 1,200 battle casualties requir8 ing major surgery were admitted within a month. 

9 General Hospital 2 accepted patients strong enough 

10 for evacuation, as it was out in the open, with no 

11 tents or buildings, and only tree canopy to conceal 

12 them from Japanese aircraft. Hospital 1 was 

13 bombed on March 29, 1942, killing or wounding 

14 more than 100 patients, but the nurses carried on 

15 with their duties as well as they were able. Following 

16 the U.S. Army surrender of the Philippines to the 

17 Japanese on May 6, 1942, 67 Army nurses were 

18 taken to Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila, 

19 where they remained until February 1945. During 

20 the 37 months in captivity, these women endured 

21 primitive conditions and starvation rations, but con22 tinued to care for the ill and injured in the intern23 ment camp hospital. 

24 (5) Early in the morning of November 8, 1942, 

25 60 nurses attached to the 48th Surgical Hospital 


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1 landed off the coast of North Africa. The nurses 

2 wore helmets and carried full packs containing med3 ical equipment. Without weapons, they waded ashore 

4 amid enemy sniper fire and ultimately took shelter 

5 in an abandoned civilian hospital, where they began 

6 caring for invasion casualties. There was no elec7 tricity or running water, and the only medical sup8 plies available were those the nurses had brought 

9 themselves. 

10 (6) In Anzio, Italy, nurses dug foxholes outside 

11 their tents or under their cots and cared for patients 

12 under German shellfire. The field hospital tents were 

13 marked by large red crosses and were sometimes de14 liberately hit with artillery shells and bombs. On 

15 February 7, 1944, a German pilot being pursued by 

16 British fighter planes dropped 5 antipersonnel 

17 bombs on the hospital, destroying 29 ward tents, 

18 killing 26 and wounding 64. The dead included 3 

19 nurses, 2 medical officers, a Red Cross worker, 14 

20 enlisted men and 6 patients. Troops came to refer 

21 to the hospital area as ‘‘Hell’s Half-Acre’’ because it 

22 was hit so frequently by enemy fire. At least 200 

23 nurses took part in the Anzio campaign, caring for 

24 more than 33,000 patients behind enemy lines. 


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1 (7) Enlisted nurses acclimated quickly to dif2 ficult and dangerous conditions with a minimum of 

3 complaints, and were essential members of the field 

4 armies. 

5 (8) The presence of nurses at the front im6 proved morale because soldiers realized that they 

7 would receive skilled care in the event they were 

8 wounded. 

9 (9) Thanks largely to the efforts of these 

10 nurses, fewer than 4 percent of the American sol11 diers who received medical care in the field or under12 went evacuation died from wounds or disease. 

13 (10) After the war, broad public health mis14 sions required that enlisted nurses supervise commu15 nicable disease measures as former enemy countries 

16 were reorganized. In Hiroshima, these officers cared 

17 for victims of the atomic bombs. In Munich, they 

18 prevented mass epidemic in refugee camps. Enlisted 

19 nurses even provided prenatal, infant, and mental 

20 health care in other former-enemy territories. 

21 (11) Nurses received 1,619 medals, citations, 

22 and commendations during the war, reflecting the 

23 courage and dedication of all who served. Sixteen 

24 medals were awarded posthumously to nurses who 

25 died as a result of enemy fire, including 6 nurses 


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1 who died at Anzio, 6 who died when the Hospital 

2 Ship Comfort was attacked by a Japanese suicide 

3 plane, and 4 flight nurses. Thirteen other flight 

4 nurses died in weather-related crashes while on duty. 

5 (12) In 1944, Congress passed a bill that 

6 granted Army and Navy Nurses actual military rank 

7 and benefits, approved for the duration of the war 

8 plus 6 months. 

9 (13) In 1947, Congress passed legislation estab10 lishing a permanent Army and Navy Nursing Corps 

11 and gave members permanent officer status with 

12 equal pay and the same benefits as those given to 

13 male officers. 

14 (14) In 1948, all military branches were inte15 grated and female doctors were finally admitted to 

16 the Army Medical Corps. 

17 (15) Although African-American nurses were 

18 fully qualified and prepared to serve as nurses at the 

19 onset of World War II, racial segregation and dis20 crimination made it difficult for Black women to join 

21 the ranks of the Army Nurse Corps (referred to in 

22 this Act as the ‘‘ANC’’). 

23 (16) As the ANC began expanding its recruit24 ing process, thousands of Black nurses who wanted 

25 to serve their country filled out applications. 


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1 (17) While the Army did eventually integrate 

2 African-American nurses in 1941, it did so 

3 unwillingly and placed a quota on the number of Af4 rican-American nurses that they would accept, cap5 ping the number allowed to join at 56. 

6 (18) Many of them had hardship tours and 

7 were sent to segregated camps to take care of Afri8 can-American soldiers and would rotate and allow 

9 White nurses reprieve in taking care of German 

10 POWs. As the war progressed, the number of Black 

11 nurses allowed to enlist remained low, although the 

12 quota was officially lifted in July 1944. 

13 (19) The extraordinary efforts of these women 

14 are deserving of belated official recognition. 

15 (20) The United States is eternally grateful to 

16 the nurses of the Army and Navy Nurse Corps for 

17 their bravery and dedication to their patients 

18 through World War II, which saved lives and made 

19 significant contributions to the defeat of the Axis 

20 powers. 

21 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

22 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

23 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem24 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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


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1 medal of appropriate design in honor of World War II 

2 Army and Navy Nurse Corps members, in recognition of 

3 the critical military service and devotion to duty of those 

4 nurses. 

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

6 presentation described in subsection (a), the Secretary of 

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

8 shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, 

9 and inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary. 

10 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

12 gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 

13 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 

14 it shall be available for display as appropriate and 

15 available for research. 

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

17 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 

18 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

19 available for display elsewhere, particularly at— 

20 (A) appropriate locations associated with 

21 the Army and Navy Nurse Corps of World War 

22 II, including— 

23 (i) the U.S. Army Medical Center of 

24 Excellence; 


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1 (ii) the Women in Military Service for 

2 America Memorial; 

3 (iii) the U.S. Army Women’s Museum; 

4 (iv) the National Naval Medical Cen5 ters; and 

6 (v) the National World War II Mu7 seum; and 

8 (B) any other location determined appro9 priate by the Smithsonian Institution. 

10 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

11 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

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

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

15 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

16 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck pursuant to 

17 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

18 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

20 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

22 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

23 SALE. 

24 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

25 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 


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1 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec2 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

3 this Act. 

4 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

5 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

6 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

7 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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