I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5002 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the United States 
Army Rangers Veterans of World War II in recognition of their extraor-
dinary service during World War II. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 8, 2019 
Mr. CRENSHAW (for himself, Mr. CROW, and Mr. WALTZ) introduced the fol-
lowing 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 consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the 
United States Army Rangers Veterans of World War 
II in recognition of their extraordinary 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 ‘‘United States Army 
Rangers Veterans of World War II Congressional Gold 
Medal Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act— 
(1) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 
of the Treasury; and 
(2) the term ‘‘United States Army Rangers 
Veteran of World War II’’ means any individual 
who— 
(A) served in the Armed Forces— 
(i) honorably; 
(ii) in an active duty status; and 
(iii) at any time during the period be-
ginning on June 19, 1942, and ending on 
September 2, 1945; and 
(B) was assigned to a Ranger Battalion of 
the Army at any time during the period de-
scribed in subparagraph (A)(iii). 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) In World War II, the Army formed 6 Rang-
er Battalions and 1 provisional battalion. All mem-
bers of the Ranger Battalions were volunteers. The 
initial concept of Ranger units drew from the British 
method of using highly trained ‘‘commando’’ units 
and the military tradition of the United States of 
utilizing light infantry for scouting and raiding oper-
ations. 
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(2) The Ranger Battalions of World War II 
consisted of— 
(A) the 1st Ranger Infantry Battalion, 
which was activated on June 19, 1942, in 
Northern Ireland; 
(B) the 2nd Ranger Infantry Battalion, 
which was activated on April 1, 1943, at Camp 
Forrest, Tennessee; 
(C) the 3rd Ranger Infantry Battalion, 
which was— 
(i) activated as provisional on May 21, 
1943, in North Africa; and 
(ii) constituted on July 21, 1943, and 
concurrently consolidated with the provi-
sional unit described in clause (i); 
(D) the 4th Ranger Infantry Battalion, 
which was— 
(i) activated as provisional on May 29, 
1943, in North Africa; and 
(ii) constituted on July 21, 1943, and 
concurrently consolidated with the provi-
sional unit described in clause (i); 
(E) the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion, 
which was activated on September 1, 1943, at 
Camp Forrest, Tennessee; 
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(F) the 6th Ranger Infantry Battalion, 
which was— 
(i) originally activated on January 20, 
1941, at Fort Lewis, Washington, as the 
98th Field Artillery Battalion; and 
(ii) converted and redesignated on 
September 26, 1944, as the 6th Ranger 
Infantry Battalion; and 
(G) the 29th Ranger Infantry Battalion, a 
provisional Army National Guard unit that 
was— 
(i) activated on December 20, 1942, 
at Tidworth Barracks, England; and 
(ii) disbanded on October 18, 1943. 
(3) The first combat operations of Army Rang-
ers occurred on August 19, 1942, when 50 Rangers 
took part in the British-Canadian raid on the 
French coastal town of Dieppe. 
(4) The 1st Ranger Battalion, under the leader-
ship of Major William O. Darby, was used in full 
strength during the landings at Arsew, Algeria, dur-
ing the North African campaign. Due to the success 
of the Rangers in several difficult battles, particu-
larly at El Guettar in March and April of 1943, 2 
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