I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4901 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the brave women 
who served in World War II as members of the U.S. Army Nurse 
Corps and U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 5, 2025 
Ms. STEFANIK (for herself, Mr. DELUZIO, and Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Fi-
nancial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administra-
tion, 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, collectively, to the 
brave women who served in World War II as members 
of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and U.S. Navy Nurse 
Corps. 
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 ‘‘WWII Nurses Con-
gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) On December 8, 1941, the United States 
declared war against the Empire of Japan, followed 
by declarations of war against Germany and Italy on 
December 11, 1941. In 1935, there were fewer than 
600 United States Army nurses and 1,700 United 
States Navy nurses on active duty. By the time 
World War II ended, more than 59,000 Army nurses 
and 14,000 Navy nurses had volunteered to serve. 
(2) The Act of June 4, 1920 (41 Stat. 759; 
chapter 227), granted women in the Nurse Corps 
‘‘relative rank’’. This gave them the right to wear 
the military insignia, but did not confer military sta-
tus or privileges. This arrangement meant women 
serving throughout World War II received 50 per-
cent of the pay as compared to their male counter-
parts, and none of the veteran benefits. Because 
they did not receive military status, they received no 
orientation or training before being deployed to hos-
pitals near the front lines. 
(3) Nurses served under fire in field hospitals 
and evacuation hospitals across 6 continents, on hos-
pital trains and ships, and as flight nurses on med-
ical transport planes. Several nurses were killed in 
action when their ships were torpedoed or field hos-
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pitals were bombed. Some even entered into combat 
areas as flight nurses to retrieve the wounded, and 
2 groups were captured as prisoners of war by the 
Japanese. 
(4) General Douglas MacArthur ordered Amer-
ican and Filipino Army Corps nurses and other med-
ical personnel to the Bataan Peninsula to prepare 2 
emergency hospitals for United States and Filipino 
forces. General Hospital #1 received casualties di-
rectly from the front lines and occupied an old Army 
barracks in Limay, Bataan prior to implementation 
of War Plan Orange 3 on December 24, 1941. The 
hospital received more than 1,200 battle casualties 
requiring major surgery within a month. General 
Hospital #2, a makeshift open ward hospital, was 
set up in Cabcaben, Bataan to receive discharged 
patients from Hospital #1. Hospital #2 accepted 
patients strong enough for evacuation, as it was out 
in the open, with no tents or buildings, and only tree 
canopy to conceal them from Japanese aircraft. Due 
to constant bombing, Hospital #1 was transferred 
to Little Baguio in Mariveles, Bataan on January 
25, 1942. Hospital #1 was bombed on March 29, 
1942, and again on April 7, killing or wounding 
more than 100 patients, but the nurses carried on 
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with their duties as well as they were able. Fifty- 
three American and 31 Filipina nurses were ordered 
to move from Bataan to Corregidor Island on April 
8. Ten of the American nurses were transferred suc-
cessfully to Australia prior to the fall of Corregidor 
on May 6, 1942. Sixty-seven American nurses were 
eventually moved to Santo Tomas University Intern-
ment Camp where they were liberated in February 
1945 while 31 Filipina nurses were moved to Bilibid 
Prison where they were conditionally released in 
July 1942. 
(5) On December 10, 1941, Sangley Point 
Navy Yard was bombed by Japanese planes. Amer-
ican and Filipino Navy Corps nurses, medical per-
sonnel and patients of Can˜acao Naval Hospital were 
transferred to the Army Sternberg Hospital in Ma-
nila. During the first week of January 1942, the 
Japanese Army occupied Manila and the Navy 
nurses were transferred to St. Scholastica’s College 
with their patients and eventually to Santo Tomas 
University Internment Camp on March 12, 1942. 
Eleven American and Filipino Navy Corps nurses 
were transferred to Los Ban˜os Prison Camp on May 
14, 1943, where they stayed until their liberation in 
February 1945. Following the United States Army 
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surrender of the Philippines to the Japanese on May 
6, 1942, 67 Army nurses were taken to Santo 
Tomas Internment Camp in Manila, where they re-
mained until February 1945. During the 37 months 
in captivity, these women endured primitive condi-
tions and starvation rations, but continued to care 
for the ill and injured in the internment camp hos-
pital. 
(6) Chinese, Chinese-American, and Japanese- 
American nurses served in Army Hospitals in China, 
Hawaii, and in the mainland United States under 
the Army and Navy Corps. Despite the internment 
of many Japanese-American families during World 
War II, Japanese-American women joined the Nurse 
Cadet Corps to serve the United States. Chinese and 
Chinese-American nurses were recruited by the Fly-
ing Tigers, serving both in dangerous missions over 
the Himalayas as well as in U.S. Army hospitals. 
(7) Early in the morning of November 8, 1942, 
60 nurses attached to the 48th Surgical Hospital 
landed off the coast of North Africa. The nurses 
wore helmets and carried full packs containing med-
ical equipment. Without weapons, they waded ashore 
amid enemy sniper fire and ultimately took shelter 
in an abandoned civilian hospital, where they began 
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caring for invasion casualties. There was no elec-
tricity or running water, and the only medical sup-
plies available were those the nurses had brought 
themselves. 
(8) In Anzio, Italy, nurses dug foxholes outside 
their tents or under their cots and cared for patients 
under German shellfire. The field hospital tents were 
marked by large red crosses and were sometimes de-
liberately hit with artillery shells and bombs. On 
February 7, 1944, a German pilot being pursued by 
British fighter planes dropped 5 antipersonnel 
bombs on the hospital, destroying 29 ward tents, 
killing 26 and wounding 64. The dead included 3 
nurses, 2 medical officers, a Red Cross worker, 14 
enlisted men and 6 patients. Troops came to refer 
to the hospital area as ‘‘Hell’s Half-Acre’’ because it 
was hit so frequently by enemy fire. At least 200 
nurses took part in the Anzio campaign, caring for 
more than 33,000 patients behind enemy lines. 
(9) Army and Navy nurses acclimated quickly 
to difficult and dangerous conditions with a min-
imum of complaints, and were essential members of 
the field armies. 
(10) The presence of nurses at the front im-
proved morale because soldiers realized that they 
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would receive skilled care in the event they were 
wounded. 
(11) Thanks largely to the efforts of these 
nurses, fewer than 4 percent of the American sol-
diers who received medical care in the field or under-
went evacuation died from wounds or disease. 
(12) After the war, broad public health mis-
sions required that Army and Navy nurses supervise 
communicable disease measures as former enemy 
countries were reorganized. In Hiroshima, these offi-
cers cared for victims of the atomic bombs. In Mu-
nich, they prevented mass epidemic in refugee 
camps. Army and Navy nurses even provided pre-
natal, infant, and mental health care in other 
former-enemy territories. 
(13) Nurses received 1,619 medals, citations, 
and commendations during the war, reflecting the 
courage and dedication of all who served. Sixteen 
medals were awarded posthumously to nurses who 
died as a result of enemy fire, including 6 nurses 
who died at Anzio, 6 who died when the hospital 
ship Comfort was attacked by a Japanese suicide 
plane, and 4 flight nurses. Thirteen other flight 
nurses died in weather-related crashes while on duty. 
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(14) In 1944, Congress passed a bill that 
granted Army and Navy Nurses actual military rank 
and benefits, approved for the duration of the war 
plus 6 months. 
(15) In 1947, Congress passed legislation estab-
lishing a permanent Army and Navy Nursing Corps 
and gave members permanent officer status with 
equal pay and the same benefits as those given to 
male officers. 
(16) In 1948, all military branches were inte-
grated and female doctors were finally admitted to 
the Army Medical Corps. 
(17) Although African-American nurses were 
fully qualified and prepared to serve as nurses at the 
onset of World War II, racial segregation and dis-
crimination made it difficult for Black women to join 
the ranks of the Army Nurse Corps. 
(18) As the Army Nurse Corps began expand-
ing its recruiting process, thousands of Black nurses 
who wanted to serve their country filled out applica-
tions. 
(19) While the Army did eventually integrate 
African-American nurses in 1941, it did so 
unwillingly and placed a quota on the number of Af-
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rican-American nurses that they would accept, cap-
ping the number allowed to join at 56. 
(20) Many of them had hardship tours and 
were sent to segregated camps to take care of Afri-
can-American soldiers and would rotate and allow 
White nurses reprieve in taking care of German pris-
oners of war. As the war progressed, the number of 
Black nurses allowed to enlist remained low, al-
though the quota was officially lifted in July 1944. 
(21) The extraordinary efforts of these women 
are deserving of belated official recognition. 
(22) The United States is eternally grateful to 
the nurses of the Army and Navy Nurse Corps for 
their bravery and dedication to their patients 
through World War II, which saved lives and made 
significant contributions to the defeat of the Axis 
powers. 
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 gold medal of appro-
priate design in honor of World War II Army and Navy 
Nurse Corps members, in recognition of the critical mili-
tary service and devotion to duty of those nurses. 
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(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For 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.—Following the award of the 
gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 
shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 
it 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 for display elsewhere, particularly at— 
(A) appropriate locations associated with 
the Army and Navy Nurse Corps of World War 
II, including— 
(i) the U.S. Army Medical Center of 
Excellence; 
(ii) the Women in Military Service for 
America Memorial; 
(iii) the U.S. Army Women’s Museum; 
(iv) the National Naval Medical Cen-
ters; and 
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(v) the National World War II Mu-
seum; and 
(B) any other location determined appro-
priate by the Smithsonian Institution. 
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 medals, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck pursuant to 
this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 
of title 31, United States Code. 
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 
5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 
struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 
items. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 
SALE. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 
authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 
Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-
essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 
this Act. 
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(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 
sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 
4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 
Enterprise Fund. 
Æ 
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