IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 707 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19, 2021 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ghost Army Congres3 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, 

7 comprised of the 23d Headquarters and Head8 quarters Company, Special Troops, the 603d Engi9 neer Camouflage Battalion, the 406th Combat Engi10 neer Company, the 3132d Signal Service Company 

11 and the Signal Company, Special, 23d Head12 quarters, Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Serv13 ice Company were top-secret units of the United 

14 States Army that served in Europe during World 

15 War II. 

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

17 actively engaged in battlefield operations from June 

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

19 Service Company was engaged in operations in Italy 

20 in 1945. 

21 (3) The deceptive activities of these units were 

22 integral to several Allied victories across Europe and 

23 reduced American casualties. 

24 (4) In evaluating the performance of these units 

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

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


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1 few men which had so great an influence on the out2 come of a major military campaign.’’. 

3 (5) Many Ghost Army soldiers were citizen-sol4 diers recruited from art schools, advertising agen5 cies, communications companies, and other creative 

6 and technical professions. 

7 (6) The first four members of the 23d Head8 quarters, Special Troops, landed on D-Day and two 

9 became casualties while creating false beach landing 

10 sites. 

11 (7) The 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, se12 cret deception operations commenced in France on 

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

14 detachment of the 23d led by First Lieutenant Ber15 nard Mason, landed at Omaha Beach. Task Force 

16 Mason conducted Operation ELEPHANT between 1 

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

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

19 part of the Normandy Campaign. 

20 (8) Operation ELEPHANT was a prelude to 

21 21 full-scale tactical deceptions completed by the 

22 23d Headquarters, Special Troops. 

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

24 the 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, used inflat25 able tanks, artillery, airplanes and other vehicles, adVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:55 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H707.RFS H707

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1 vanced engineered soundtracks, and skillfully crafted 

2 radio trickery to create the illusion of sizable Amer3 ican forces where there were none and to draw the 

4 enemy away from Allied troops. 

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

6 Companies, activated in Pine Camp (now Fort 

7 Drum), New York, at the Army Experimental Sta8 tion in March 1944, were the only two active duty 

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

10 War II. 

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

12 Troops, impersonated other, larger Army units by 

13 sewing counterfeit patches onto their uniforms, 

14 painting false markings on their vehicles, and cre15 ating phony headquarters staffed by fake generals, 

16 all in an effort to feed false information to Axis 

17 spies. 

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

19 Headquarters, Special Troops, created counterfeit 

20 radio traffic to mask the efforts of General George 

21 Patton’s Third Army as it mobilized to break 

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

23 Armored Division in the besieged Belgian town of 

24 Bastogne. 


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

2 in March 1945, the 23d Headquarters, Special 

3 Troops, conducted a tactical deception that drew 

4 German units down the Rhine River and away from 

5 the Ninth Army, allowing the Ninth Army to cross 

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

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

8 units, impersonated forty thousand men, or two 

9 complete divisions of American forces, by using fab10 ricated radio networks, soundtracks of construction 

11 work and artillery fire, and more than 600 inflatable 

12 vehicles. According to a military intelligence officer 

13 of the 79th Infantry, ‘‘There is no doubt that Oper14 ation VIERSEN materially assisted in deceiving the 

15 enemy with regard to the real dispositions and inten16 tions of this Army.’’. 

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

18 Special Troops, gave their lives and dozens were in19 jured in carrying out their mission. 

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

21 Company conducted Operation CRAFTSMAN in 

22 support of Operation SECOND WIND, the success23 ful allied effort to break through the German defen24 sive position to the north of Florence, Italy, known 

25 as the Gothic Line. Along with an attached platoon 


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1 of British engineers, who were inflatable decoy spe2 cialists, the 3133d Signal Service Company used 

3 sonic deception to misrepresent troop locations along 

4 this defensive line. 

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

6 Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Service Com7 pany remained highly classified for more than forty 

8 years after the war and were never formally recog9 nized. The extraordinary accomplishments of this 

10 unit are deserving of belated official recognition. 

11 (17) The United States is eternally grateful to 

12 the soldiers of the 23d Headquarters, Special Troops 

13 and the 3133d Signal Service Company for their 

14 proficient use of innovative tactics throughout World 

15 War II, which saved lives and made significant con16 tributions to the defeat of the Axis powers. 

17 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

19 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

20 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

21 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of ap22 propriate design to the 23d Headquarters, Special Troops, 

23 and the 3133d Signal Service Company, known as the 

24 ‘‘Ghost Army’’, collectively, in recognition of its unique 

25 and incredible service during World War II. 


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

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

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

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

5 inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 

6 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

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

9 medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 

10 where it will be available for display as appropriate 

11 and available for research. 

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

13 the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 

14 should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 

15 this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly 

16 at appropriate locations associated with the Ghost 

17 Army, and that preference should be given to loca18 tions affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. 

19 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

20 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

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

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

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


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1 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDAL. 

2 The gold medal struck pursuant to this Act is a na3 tional medal for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 

4 States Code. 

5 SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

6 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

7 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

8 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

9 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

10 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

11 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro12 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

13 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 18, 2021. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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