the date on which the war ended that ‘‘a large part 
of the success of the communications of this Army 
is due to . . . a competent staff of women opera-
tors.’’. 
(22) After the war ended, some women were or-
dered to Coblenz in Germany for the occupation of 
that country and to Paris for the Paris Peace Trea-
ty of 1919 to continue telephone operations, some-
times in direct support of President Woodrow Wil-
son. 
(23) Two operators, Corah Bartlett and Inez 
Crittenden, died in France in the service of the 
United States and were buried there in military 
cemeteries with military ceremonies. Those operators 
died of the same influenza pandemic that killed more 
soldiers of the Armed Forces than combat oper-
ations. 
(24) Women of the Army Signal Corps were in-
eligible for discharge until formal release. Because of 
their role in logistics, those women were among the 
last soldiers to come home to the United States. The 
last Signal Corps operators returned from France in 
January of 1920. 
(25) Upon arrival in the United States, the 
Army informed female veterans that they had per-
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formed as civilians, not soldiers, even though opera-
tors had served in Army uniform in a theater of war 
surrounded by men who were similarly engaged. 
(26) Despite the objections of General George 
Squier, the top-ranking officer in the Signal Corps, 
the Army denied Signal Corps women the veterans’ 
benefits granted to male soldiers and female nurses, 
such as— 
(A) hospitalization for disabilities incurred 
in the line of duty; 
(B) cash bonuses; 
(C) soldiers’ pensions; 
(D) flags on their coffins; and 
(E) the Victory Medals promised them in 
France. 
(27) For the next 60 years, female veterans, led 
by Merle Egan from Montana, petitioned Congress 
more than 50 times for their recognition. In 1977, 
under the sponsorship of Senator Barry Goldwater, 
Congress passed legislation to retroactively acknowl-
edge the military service of the Women’s Airforce 
Service Pilots (referred to in this section as 
‘‘WASPs’’) of World War II and ‘‘the service of any 
person in any other similarly situated group the 
members of which rendered service to the Armed 
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Forces of the United States in a capacity considered 
civilian employment or contractual service at the 
time such service was rendered’’. 
(28) On November 23, 1977, President Jimmy 
Carter signed the legislation described in paragraph 
(27) into law as the GI Bill Improvement Act of 
1977 (Public Law 95–202; 91 Stat. 1433). 
(29) The Signal Corps telephone operators ap-
plied for, and were granted, status as veterans in 
1979. 
(30) Only 33 of the operators who had returned 
home after the war were still alive to receive their 
Victory Medals and official discharge papers, which 
were finally awarded in 1979. 
(31) One of the women, Olive Shaw from Mas-
sachusetts, returned to the United States after the 
war, where she worked on the professional staff of 
Congresswoman Edith Nourse Rogers. Shaw lived to 
receive her honorable discharge and was the first 
burial when the Massachusetts National Cemetery 
opened on October 11, 1980. Shaw’s uniform is on 
display at the National World War I Museum and 
Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. 
(32) Upon receipt of her honorable discharge at 
a ceremony in her home in Marine City, Michigan, 
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‘‘Hello Girl’’ Oleda Joure Christides raised the paper 
to her lips and kissed it. The only thing Christides 
ever wanted from the Federal Government was a 
flag on her coffin. 
(33) On July 1, 2009, President Barack Obama 
signed into law Public Law 111–40 (123 Stat. 
1958), which awarded the WASPs the Congressional 
Gold Medal for their service to the United States. 
(34) For their role as pioneers who paved the 
way for all women in uniform, and for service that 
was essential to victory in World War I, the ‘‘Hello 
Girls’’ merit similar recognition. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) AWARD
AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 
House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 
of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 
award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of 
appropriate design in honor of the female telephone opera-
tors of the Army Signal Corps (commonly known as the 
‘‘Hello Girls’’), in recognition of those operators’— 
(1) pioneering military service; 
(2) devotion to duty; and 
(3) 60-year struggle for— 
(A) recognition as soldiers; and 
(B) veterans’ benefits. 
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(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
award described in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 
Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 
strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 
inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 
(c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—After the award of the gold 
medal under subsection (a), the medal shall be given 
to the Smithsonian Institution, where the medal 
shall be available for display, as appropriate, and 
made available for research. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 
make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 
available elsewhere, particularly at— 
(A) appropriate locations associated with— 
(i) the Army Signal Corps; 
(ii) the Women in Military Service for 
America Memorial; 
(iii) the U.S. Army Women’s Museum; 
and 
(iv) the National World War I Mu-
seum and Memorial; and 
(B) any other location determined appro-
priate by the Smithsonian Institution. 
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