I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2170 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23rd Headquarters Special 
Troops, known as the ‘‘Ghost Army’’, collectively, in recognition of its 
unique and incredible service during World War II. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 30, 2015 
Ms. KUSTER (for herself and Mr. KING of New York) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 23rd Head-
quarters Special Troops, known as the ‘‘Ghost Army’’, 
collectively, in recognition of its unique and incredible 
service during World War II. 
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 ‘‘Ghost Army Congres-
sional Gold Medal Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops (the 
‘‘Ghost Army’’) was a top-secret unit of the United 
States Army that served in the European Theater of 
Operations during World War II. 
(2) The unit was actively engaged in battlefield 
operations from June of 1944 through March of 
1945. 
(3) The deceptive activities of the Ghost Army 
were essential to several Allied victories across Eu-
rope and are estimated to have saved thousands of 
lives. 
(4) In evaluating the performance of the Ghost 
Army after the War, a U.S. Army analysis found 
that ‘‘Rarely, if ever, has there been a group of such 
a few men which had so great an influence on the 
outcome of a major military campaign.’’. 
(5) Many Ghost Army soldiers were specially 
selected for their mission, and were recruited from 
art schools, advertising agencies, communications 
companies, and other creative and technical profes-
sions. 
(6) The first four members of the Ghost Army 
landed on D-Day and two became casualties while 
camouflaging early beach installations. 
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(7) The Ghost Army’s secret deception oper-
ations commenced in France on June 14, 1944, 
when Task Force Mason landed at Omaha Beach to 
draw enemy fire and protect the 980th Artillery for 
28 days. 
(8) Task Force Mason was a prelude to 21 full- 
scale tactical deceptions completed by the Ghost 
Army. 
(9) Often operating on or near the front lines, 
the Ghost Army used inflatable tanks, artillery, air-
planes and other vehicles, advanced engineered 
soundtracks, and skillfully crafted radio trickery to 
create the illusion of sizable American forces where 
there were none and to draw the enemy away from 
Allied troops. 
(10) Ghost Army soldiers impersonated other, 
larger Army units by sewing counterfeit patches 
onto their uniforms, painting false markings on their 
vehicles, and creating phony headquarters staffed by 
fake generals, all in an effort to feed false informa-
tion to Axis spies. 
(11) During the Battle of the Bulge, the Ghost 
Army created counterfeit radio traffic to mask the 
efforts of General George Patton’s Third Army as it 
mobilized to break through to the 101st Airborne 
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and elements of 10th Armored Division in the be-
sieged Belgian town of Bastogne. 
(12) In its final mission, Operation Viersen, the 
Ghost Army deployed a tactical deception that drew 
German units down the Rhine River and away from 
the 9th Army, allowing the 9th Army to cross the 
Rhine into Germany. On this mission, the 1,100 
men of the Ghost Army, with the assistance of other 
units, impersonated forty thousand men, or two 
complete divisions of American forces, by using fab-
ricated radio networks, soundtracks of construction 
work and artillery fire, and more than 600 inflatable 
vehicles. 
(13) Three Ghost Army soldiers gave their lives 
and dozens were injured in carrying out their mis-
sion. 
(14) The activities of the Ghost Army remained 
classified for more than forty years after the war 
and the extraordinary accomplishments of this unit 
are deserving of belated recognition. 
(15) The United States will be eternally grate-
ful to the Ghost Army for their proficient use of in-
novative tactics throughout World War II, which 
saved thousands of lives and were instrumental in 
the defeat of Nazi Germany. 
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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 the Congress, of a gold medal of ap-
propriate design to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, 
known as the ‘‘Ghost Army’’, collectively, in recognition 
of its unique and incredible service during World War II. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
award referred to 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 in honor of the Ghost Army, the gold 
medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 
where it will be available for display as appropriate 
and available for research. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 
should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 
this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly 
at appropriate locations associated with the Ghost 
Army, and that preference should be given to loca-
tions affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. 
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SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 
sufficient to cover the costs of the medal, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS. 
Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med-
als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 
Code. 
Æ 
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