I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3565 
To grant a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the men and women 
of the United States Armed Forces and Merchant Marine, as well as 
citizen and non-citizen civilians who served honorably with the U.S. 
military, who were surrendered, captured, or abandoned to become pris-
oners of war (POWs) of Imperial Japan throughout the Japanese Empire 
in the Pacific Theater of World War II from December 7, 1941, to 
September 2, 1945. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 28, 2021 
Mr. BOST (for himself, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS 
of Illinois, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. BILIRAKIS, and Mr. STAUBER) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Finan-
cial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To grant a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the 
men and women of the United States Armed Forces 
and Merchant Marine, as well as citizen and non-citizen 
civilians who served honorably with the U.S. military, 
who were surrendered, captured, or abandoned to become 
prisoners of war (POWs) of Imperial Japan throughout 
the Japanese Empire in the Pacific Theater of World 
War II from December 7, 1941, to September 2, 1945. 
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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 ‘‘World War II Pacific 
War Heroes Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The United States POWs held by Imperial 
Japan in the Pacific Theater during World War II, 
with most held in captivity for more than three 
years, are Pacific War heroes who represent the 
American spirit of courage, tenacity, and faith. 
(2) Imperial Japan did not abide by the Geneva 
and Hague Conventions for the humane treatment 
of POWs. 
(3) The United States POWs held by Imperial 
Japan during World War II numbered more than 
27,000 with more than 11,000 or 40 percent per-
ishing before the end of War. 
(4) On December 7, 1941, Imperial Japan at-
tacked not only Pearl Harbor in the United States 
Territory of Hawaii, but also the other United 
States possessions and military installations in the 
Pacific of the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, 
Howland Island, and Midway as preludes to full- 
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scale invasions and military occupation throughout 
the Asia-Pacific region. 
(5) By the end of day, December 8, 1941, more 
than 300 United States Marines, sailors, diplomats, 
and Mariners in China became the first United 
States prisoners of war of Imperial Japan with most 
held for the full duration of the war. 
(6) Ninety-eight percent of the United States 
POWs of Imperial Japan fought in the heroic battles 
of Guam, Wake Island, Sunda Strait, Halsey-Doo-
little Raid, Bataan, and Corregidor, all within the 
first six months of World War II. 
(7) Most of the United States airmen, infantry-
men, sailors, and Marines surrendered in defense of 
the Netherlands East Indies in March 1942 were 
sent to be slave laborers on the Thai-Burma Death 
Railway or at construction projects in Changi, 
Singapore. 
(8) On April 9, 1942, approximately 12,000 
United States military personnel and 66,000 Fili-
pino soldiers became POWs with the surrender of 
the American-Filipino forces on the Bataan Penin-
sula in the Philippines. 
(9) April 9, 1942, marked the beginning of the 
infamous Bataan Death March where the Imperial 
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Japanese Army forced all American and Filipino 
forces from Marviveles or Bagac up the Bataan Pe-
ninsula on a three-part, three-province, nearly 100- 
mile trek north to the makeshift POW facility Camp 
O’Donnell at Capas, Tarlac. An estimated 650 
American and 5,000–10,000 Filipino soldiers died 
on the Bataan Death March, while hundreds of men 
remain unaccounted for. 
(10) On May 6, 1942, Corregidor Island, then 
operating as the military command center for all the 
Philippines, United States Forces in the Philippines 
(USFIP), was surrendered. Nearly 10,000 American 
soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines as well as 
more than 3,000 Filipino soldiers and nurses became 
POWs of Imperial Japan. 
(11) The May 6, 1942, fall of Corregidor Island 
and subsequent surrender of all the Philippines Is-
lands marked the end of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet; the 
U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), and 
the U.S. Far East Air Force (USFEAF). 
(12) Included in the surrenders the Philippines 
were female nurses of United States Army, Navy, 
Philippine Army, and civilian volunteers who became 
the first large group of American women in combat 
and, counted with the Army and Navy nurses sur-
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rendered on Guam in December 1941, comprised the 
first group of American military women taken cap-
tive and imprisoned by an enemy. 
(13) More than 14,000 Americans POWs were 
transported aboard ‘‘hellships’’—in the holds of un-
marked merchant ships—from Pacific battle sites to 
be used as slave laborers; one-third of all POW 
deaths resulted from attacks on the ‘‘hellships’’ by 
‘‘friendly fire’’ from American submarines or air-
craft. 
(14) More than 600 members of the United 
States Merchant Marine including one female Mar-
iner, became prisoners of Imperial Japan, many of 
whom were turned over to Japanese control after 
being first captured by Nazi Germany’s naval forces. 
Fifteen percent were killed by either Imperial Japan 
Navy officers during capture or died in Japanese 
POW camps. 
(15) Throughout World War II, the Imperial 
Japanese military maintained approximately 775 
POW camps throughout the Empire: 185 POW 
camps on the Home Islands of Japan and 590 in 
other areas of the Pacific Theater, which includes an 
unknown number of temporary camps. 
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(16) A priority of International Military Tri-
bunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the 
Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal and the ad hoc Amer-
ican and Allied military tribunals throughout the 
Asia Pacific from 1945 to 1951 was to obtain justice 
for the maltreatment of POWs. Approximately sev-
enty-five percent of the more than 5,600 defendants 
were charged with offenses against POWs. This re-
flects the July 26, 1945, Potsdam Declaration’s 
warning that, ‘‘stern justice shall be meted out to all 
war criminals, including those who have visited cru-
elties upon our prisoners’’. 
(17) President Ronald Reagan first proclaimed 
National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day 
in 1988, which was established to coincide with April 
9, the anniversary of the start of the Bataan Death 
March. 
(18) In 2009, the Government of Japan issued 
an official, Cabinet of Japan approved apology say-
ing ‘‘We extend a heartfelt apology for our country 
having caused tremendous damage and suffering to 
many people, including prisoners of wars, those who 
have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan Pe-
ninsula, Corregidor Island, in the Philippines, and 
other places’’. 
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(19) In 2010, the Government of Japan initi-
ated an annual visitation program for former United 
States POWs of Japan and family members to visit 
Japan for remembrance, reconciliation, and healing. 
(20) It is time to recognize the ordinary men 
and women who found uncommon courage in ex-
traordinary circumstances to fight the impossible 
and endure the unimaginable for freedom from tyr-
anny and oppression. 
(21) The Congressional Gold Medal is an ap-
propriate way to honor the service of the United 
States POWs held by Imperial Japan in World War 
II and to highlight the unique imprisonment of these 
Pacific War heroes and their poignant history of 
sacrifice, perseverance, patriotism, and faith. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(a) the term ‘‘prisoners of war of Imperial Japan’’ 
includes any individual who— 
(1) was taken prisoner— 
(A) by Japan while serving honorably in 
the service of the United States at any time 
during the period beginning on December 8, 
1941, and ending on September 2, 1945; 
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(B) was taken prisoner by the Japanese 
while serving in an active-duty status under the 
command of the United States Army Forces in 
the Far East (USAFFE), United States Forces 
in the Philippines (USFIP), American-British- 
Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, South-
west Pacific Area (SWPA), Pacific Ocean Area 
(POA), China-Burma-India (CBI), Southeast 
Asia Command (SEAC), 1st Defense Battalion, 
Wake Island (Marines), Guam Battalion (Ma-
rines), 4th Marines, Marine Raiders, U.S. Asi-
atic Fleet, Twentieth Air Force, Far East Air 
Force, United States Army Air Forces, and the 
War Shipping Administration; or 
(C) was taken prisoner on Attu Island in 
the Aleutians part of Alaska on June 7, 1942; 
(2) was not granted ‘‘parole’’ (release) by Impe-
rial Japanese forces during World War II; and 
(3) holds ‘‘veterans’ status’’ or a ‘‘certificate of 
honorable service’’ for their service in the Pacific 
Theater of World War II when taken prisoner by 
Japan; 
(b) the term ‘‘Pacific Theater’’ means China, the 
Central Pacific, Southeast Asia, and the Southwest Pacific 
of World War II; and 
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(c) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the 
Treasury. 
SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold 
medal of appropriate design to the United States to the 
men and women of the United States military and mer-
chant marine as well as citizen and non-citizen civilians 
who fought with the U.S. military and were surrendered, 
captured, or abandoned to become prisoners of war of Im-
perial Japan during World War II, in recognition of their 
dedicated and vital service during World War II. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
award described in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 
Treasury (in this Act referred to 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.—Following the award of the 
gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 
shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution’s Na-
tional Museum of American History, where it shall 
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be displayed as appropriate and made available for 
research. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the Smithsonian Institution’s Na-
tional Museum of American History should make 
the gold medal received under paragraph (1) avail-
able for display at other locations, particularly at lo-
cations that are associated with the prisoners of war 
of Imperial Japan during World War II, such as 
The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, The 
MacArthur Memorial, National Prisoner of War Mu-
seum; National Museum of the Pacific War, and 
New Mexico Military Museum. 
SEC. 5. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre-
scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck under section 4, at a price 
sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 6. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck under this 
Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 
31, United States Code. 
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 
5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 
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struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 
items. 
Æ 
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