I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7759 
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 
MAY 12, 2022 
Ms. STEFANIK (for herself and Mr. BROWN of Maryland) 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 
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 U.S. Army Nurses and 1,700 U.S. 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 Army Reorganization Act of 1920 
granted women in the Nurse Corps ‘‘relative rank’’. 
This gave them the right to wear the military insig-
nia, but did not confer military status or privileges. 
This arrangement meant women serving throughout 
WWII received 50 percent of the pay as compared 
to their male counterparts, and none of the veteran 
benefits. Because they did not receive military sta-
tus, they received no orientation or training before 
being deployed to hospitals near the frontlines. 
(3) Nurses served under fire in field hospitals 
and evacuation hospitals across six continents, on 
hospital trains and ships, and as flight nurses on 
medical transport planes. Several nurses were killed 
in action when their ships were torpedoed or field 
hospitals were bombed. Some even entered into com-
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bat 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 Army 
Nurses to the Bataan Peninsula to prepare 2 emer-
gency hospitals for U.S. and Filipino forces. General 
Hospital 1 received casualties directly from the front 
lines, and more than 1,200 battle casualties requir-
ing major surgery were admitted within a month. 
General 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. Hospital 1 was 
bombed on March 29, 1942, killing or wounding 
more than 100 patients, but the nurses carried on 
with their duties as well as they were able. Following 
the U.S. Army 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 remained until February 1945. During 
the 37 months in captivity, these women endured 
primitive conditions and starvation rations, but con-
tinued to care for the ill and injured in the intern-
ment camp hospital. 
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(5) 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 
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. 
(6) 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 
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