I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8008 
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to the Golden Thirteen, 
in recognition of their contributions to the Nation. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 15, 2024 
Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House 
Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to the 
Golden Thirteen, in recognition of their contributions 
to the Nation. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Golden Thirteen Con-
gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) In January 1944, there were no Black offi-
cers in the United States Navy. That month, 16 
Black enlisted men were assembled at the Recruit 
Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois, for officer 
training. 
(2) These men were expected to complete the 
training in 8 weeks, while the normal officer training 
course was 16 weeks. 
(3) These men supported each other, including 
by placing blankets over their windows and studying 
as a group by flashlight at night. Each man brought 
to the group his own expertise to help the others. 
(4) When the course was over, all 16 men 
passed their exams, leading some to claim that they 
had cheated. The men were forced to retake certain 
exams and scored even higher. 
(5) The average grade for these men on the 
exams was a 3.89 out of a 4.00, the highest average 
of any class in Navy history at that time. 
(6) Despite all 16 men having passed the 
course, on February 24, 1944, the Navy commis-
sioned only 12 of them, and a 13th was made a 
chief warrant officer. Because the Navy had as-
sumed a 25-percent attrition rate, only 12 officer 
commissions were anticipated. As the class had a 
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100-percent passage rate, the other three men were 
returned to the enlisted corps, with no reason given. 
(7) During their careers, these men oversaw all- 
Black units or the training of Black recruits. One 
would go on to make his career in the Navy after 
World War II, and the rest would return to civilian 
life. 
(8) In the 1970s, Captain Edward Secrest, a 
former instructor, gave the group the name ‘‘Golden 
Thirteen’’. 
(9) In 1982, these men were formally recog-
nized with a first-ever reunion at sea aboard the 
USS KIDD–993. 
(10) The members of the Golden Thirteen were 
Jesse Walter Arbor; Phillip G. Barnes; Samuel Ed-
ward Barnes; Dalton Louis Baugh, Sr.; George Clin-
ton Cooper; Reginald Ernest Goodwin; James Ed-
ward Hair; Charles Byrd Lear; Graham Edward 
Martin; Dennis Denmark Nelson; John Walter 
Reagan; Frank Ellis Sublett, Jr.; and William Syl-
vester White. The three members who passed their 
exams but not given a commission were Augustus 
Alves; J.B. Pinkney; and Lewis ‘‘Mummy’’ Williams. 
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