II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 381 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the World War II members of 

the ‘‘Doolittle Tokyo Raiders’’, for outstanding heroism, valor, skill, 

and service to the United States in conducting the bombings of Tokyo. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2013 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. 

TESTER, Mr. NELSON, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. SCHATZ, and Mrs. MURRAY) 

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 to the World War 

II members of the ‘‘Doolittle Tokyo Raiders’’, for outstanding heroism, valor, skill, and service to the United 

States in conducting the bombings of Tokyo. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds that— 

5 (1) on April 18, 1942, the brave men of the 

6 17th Bombardment Group (Medium) became known 

7 as the ‘‘Doolittle Tokyo Raiders’’ for outstanding 


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1 heroism, valor, skill, and service to the United 

2 States in conducting the bombings of Tokyo; 

3 (2) 80 brave American aircraft crewmen, led by 

4 Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, volunteered for 

5 an ‘‘extremely hazardous mission’’, without knowing 

6 the target, location, or assignment, and willingly put 

7 their lives in harm’s way, risking death, capture, and 

8 torture; 

9 (3) the conduct of medium bomber operations 

10 from a Navy aircraft carrier under combat condi11 tions had never before been attempted; 

12 (4) after the discovery of the USS Hornet by 

13 Japanese picket ships 170 miles further away from 

14 the prearranged launch point, the Doolittle Tokyo 

15 Raiders proceeded to take off 670 miles from the 

16 coast of Japan; 

17 (5) by launching more than 100 miles beyond 

18 the distance considered to be minimally safe for the 

19 mission, the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders deliberately ac20 cepted the risk that the B-25s might not have 

21 enough fuel to reach the designated air-fields in 

22 China on return; 

23 (6) the additional launch distance greatly in24 creased the risk of crash landing in Japanese occuVerDate Mar 15 2010 05:54 Feb 28, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S381.IS S381

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1 pied China, exposing the crews to higher probability 

2 of death, injury, or capture; 

3 (7) because of that deliberate choice, after 

4 bombing their targets in Japan, low on fuel and in 

5 setting night and deteriorating weather, none of the 

6 16 airplanes reached the prearranged Chinese air7 fields; 

8 (8) of the 80 Doolittle Tokyo Raiders who 

9 launched on the raid, 8 were captured, 2 died in the 

10 crash, and 70 returned to the United States; 

11 (9) of the 8 captured Doolittle Tokyo Raiders, 

12 3 were executed and 1 died of disease; and 

13 (10) there were only 5 surviving members of 

14 the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders as of February 2013. 

15 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

16 (a) AWARD.— 

17 (1) AUTHORIZED.—The President pro tempore 

18 of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Rep19 resentatives shall make appropriate arrangements 

20 for the award, on behalf of Congress, of 6 gold med21 als of appropriate design in honor of the World War 

22 II members of the 17th Bombardment Group (Me23 dium) who became known as the ‘‘Doolittle Tokyo 

24 Raiders’’, in recognition of their military service dur25 ing World War II. 


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1 (2) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes 

2 of the award referred to in paragraph (1), the Sec3 retary of the Treasury shall strike the gold medals 

4 with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to 

5 be determined by the Secretary. 

6 (3) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

8 the gold medal referred to in paragraph (1) in 

9 honor of the World War II members of the 

10 17th Bombardment Group (Medium), who be11 came known as the ‘‘Doolittle Tokyo Raiders’’, 

12 the gold medals shall be given to the 5 sur13 viving members of the mission, with a sixth 

14 medal to be given to the National Museum of 

15 the United States Air Force, where it shall be 

16 displayed with the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders 

17 Goblets, as appropriate, and made available for 

18 research. 

19 (B) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense 

20 of Congress that the National Museum of the 

21 United States Air Force should make the gold 

22 medal received under this paragraph available 

23 for display elsewhere, particularly at other loca24 tions and events associated with the Doolittle 

25 Tokyo Raiders. 


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1 (b) DUPLICATE MEDALS.—Under such regulations 

2 as the Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may strike 

3 and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck 

4 under this Act, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of 

5 the medals, including labor, materials, dyes, use of ma6 chinery, and overhead expenses. 

7 (c) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck pursuant to 

8 this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 

9 of title 31, United States Code. 

10 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 

11 OF SALE. 

12 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

13 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

14 Public Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 

15 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized under section 

16 2. 

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

18 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 2(b) shall 

19 be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

20 Fund. 

Æ 


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