I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1553 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to all United States nationals who 
voluntarily joined the Canadian and British armed forces and their 
supporting entities during World War Two, in recognition of their dedi-
cated service. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 15, 2017 
Mr. RYAN of Ohio 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 concerned 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to all United States 
nationals who voluntarily joined the Canadian and Brit-
ish armed forces and their supporting entities during 
World War Two, in recognition of their dedicated service. 
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 ‘‘American Patriots of 
WWII through Service with the Canadian and British 
Armed Forces Gold Medal Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Americans from across the country served 
in defense of democracy and freedom during World 
War Two (WWII) by volunteering for service with 
the Canadian and British militaries and other asso-
ciated organizations that were fighting Nazi and 
Fascist aggression. Many United States citizens per-
ceived the importance of this war and the severe im-
pact Nazism and Fascism could have on the Amer-
ican way of life. Therefore, prior to the United 
States entry into the conflict and indeed throughout 
WWII these patriots independently crossed the bor-
der into Canada and entered Canadian and British 
armed forces recruiting offices or sought out rep-
resentatives based in major United States munici-
palities and elsewhere. 
(2) When the ‘‘United Kingdom of Great Brit-
ain and Northern Ireland’’ and the ‘‘British Com-
monwealth of Nations’’ were drawn into WWII after 
Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the Canadian and 
British air forces made a concerted effort to recruit 
Americans. 
(3) It is documented that thousands of Ameri-
cans joined the Canadian and British armed forces, 
a large percentage joining the Royal Canadian Air 
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Force (RCAF) alone. In a 1942 film Air Marshal 
William Avery ‘‘Billy’’ Bishop, an organizer and pro-
moter of the British Commonwealth Air Training 
Plan (BCATP) and Director of the Royal Canadian 
Air Force, recognized the ‘‘gallant lads from the 
United States who have come up here to help and 
serve with us’’. Notably, many Americans were also 
recruited and processed through Canada before 
being assigned to or detached for the purpose of 
Royal Air Force (RAF) service. 
(4) General of the Army, Army of the United 
States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the former Supreme 
Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary 
Force, referenced, in a speech on January 10, 1946, 
the ‘‘some twelve thousand American citizens’’ who 
crossed into Canada with the goal of entering the 
Canadian armed forces. Although the precise num-
bers of Americans who were in Canadian and British 
service are unknown, media accounts published by 
Allied journalists during the conflict nonetheless de-
tail their legacies of volunteerism, personal sacrifice, 
and bravery. 
(5) Americans also joined the Canadian Avia-
tion Bureau, and the Home Guard, Air Transport 
Auxiliary (ATA), and Royal Air Force Ferry Com-
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mand/Transport Command in Britain. The existence 
of these ancillaries enabled patriotic citizens, who 
were, at least initially, unable to join a branch of the 
United States military due to gender, age, race, 
health, the lack of sufficient college education, or 
other reasons, to support the war effort. Those who 
contributed via these alternative concerns were no 
less essential to attaining victory. 
(6) The infusion of Americans into Canada 
helped to reduce shortages of civilian and military 
pilots in the BCATP, and President Franklin Roo-
sevelt paid tribute to both Canada and the program 
in a wartime letter to Canadian Prime Minister Wil-
liam Lyon Mackenzie King. Within the correspond-
ence President Roosevelt used the phrase ‘‘the Aero-
drome of Democracy’’. 
(7) As members of the Canadian and British 
militaries, the American volunteers served in many 
capacities. Extant military rolls and individual serv-
ice records document, and thereby testify to, their 
contributions. 
(8) A sizable number of Americans lost their 
lives or were wounded while serving in the RCAF 
and RAF. The Canadian Army, British Army, Royal 
Canadian Navy, and Royal Navy also incurred 
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American personnel casualties. Those who perished 
and the survivors demonstrated the exceptional cour-
age that has been repeatedly displayed in the de-
fense of freedom throughout American history. 
(9) A unique and highly publicized group of 
Americans, who were members of the RCAF and 
RAF, were posted to the famous RAF Eagle Squad-
rons and thereby showcased the important roles 
American volunteers were undertaking. British 
Prime Minister Winston Churchill, whose mother 
was American, played an important role in originally 
promoting the concept of the Eagle Squadrons to 
the Air Ministry. 
(10) The early successes of female ferry air-
crews paved the way for the formation in the United 
States of the Women Airforce Service Pilots 
(WASP) in 1943. The exceptional legacy of the 
Women Airforce Service Pilots, ATA, etc., provided 
essential support and paved the way for future gen-
erations of military women. 
(11) A substantial portion of the Americans 
serving in Canadian and British aerial forces trans-
ferred to the United States Army Air Forces be-
tween 1942 and 1944, while others elected to enter 
other branches of the United States Military. 
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(12) The practical experience these veterans of 
Canadian and British service possessed provided the 
inexperienced American Forces with an immediate 
degree of competence and effectiveness. More than a 
few became accomplished combat pilots, the Amer-
ican Fighter Aces Association possessing many of 
them within the organization’s core membership. 
(13) The bravery and foresight displayed by the 
Americans who enlisted in the Canadian and British 
armed forces represent a largely unrecognized story 
of valor, and their initiatives are worthy of official 
recognition. 
(14) The United States Nationals who volun-
teered for service with military-associated Canadian 
and British ancillary entities are to be equally recog-
nized for their volunteerism, contributions, and sac-
rifices. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The President pro tem-
pore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives shall make appropriate arrangements for the 
award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of 
appropriate design to all United States nationals who vol-
untarily joined the Canadian and British armed forces and 
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their supporting entities during World War Two, in rec-
ognition of their dedicated service. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
award referred to 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.—Following the award of the 
gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 
shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 
it will 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 for display elsewhere. 
(d) DUPLICATE MEDALS.—Under regulations that 
the Secretary may promulgate, the Secretary may strike 
and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck 
under this Act, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of 
the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machin-
ery, and overhead expenses. 
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SEC. 4. 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 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 
under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 
Æ 
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