Fort Stotsenburg north of Manila with the mission 
of defending Clark Field. 
(4) Filipino soldiers and civilians valiantly 
fought alongside and as part of the United States 
Armed Forces and were integral to their war efforts. 
(5) By the end of December 1941, all United 
States forces on Luzon Island in the Philippines 
withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula of the island, 
where, for the next 4 months, with neither air nor 
sea defenses, an estimated 12,000 United States and 
at least 63,000 Filipino troops and 20,000 Filipino 
civilians endured siege conditions. 
(6) On April 9, 1942, Major General Edward 
P. King, Jr. surrendered the United States and Fili-
pino forces on the Bataan Peninsula. The Imperial 
Japanese Army forced thousands of troops and civil-
ians to assemble at the port of Mariveles at the tip 
of Bataan and other locations along the peninsula 
for a 65-mile forced march. This forced trek came 
to be known as the ‘‘Bataan Death March’’. 
(7) During the Bataan Death March, approxi-
mately 700 people of the United States and 6,000 
to 10,000 Filipinos were killed. Survivors were sent 
to Camp O’Donnell where 26,000 more Filipino pris-
oners died. 
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(8) On May 6, 1942, Lieutenant General Jona-
than Wainwright surrendered the fortress islands of 
Corregidor (Fort Mills), Fort Drum, Fort Frank, 
and Fort Hughes in Manila Bay. The complete sur-
render of the remaining United States and Filipino 
forces in the Philippines occurred on June 9, 1942. 
(9) Included in the surrenders in the Phil-
ippines were female nurses of the United States 
Army and Navy and the Philippine Army and civil-
ian volunteers who became the first large group of 
United States women in combat and, counted with 
the Army and Navy nurses surrendered on Guam in 
December 1941, comprised the first group of United 
States military women taken captive and imprisoned 
by an enemy. 
(10) On June 7, 1942, the Imperial Japanese 
invaded Attu, homeland of the impacted Saskinaxˆ 
people, who were all subsequently taken prisoner by 
the Japanese troops on Attu for 3 months and held 
as imprisoned slaves for 3 years and 3 months in 
Otaru, Japan. After the war, the impacted Saskinaxˆ 
people were not allowed to return to Attu. 
(11) On May 11, 1943, 12,500 United States 
Armed Forces personnel entered Attu, which was oc-
cupied by about 2,500 Japanese military personnel. 
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Between this date and May 29, 1943, those brave 
members of the United States Armed Forces fought 
to reclaim Attu. This victory cost the United States 
about 550 of its very finest, who laid down their 
lives in the service of their nation. 
(12) Between January 1942 and August 1945, 
thousands of prisoners of war from the United 
States who had survived the surrenders throughout 
the Pacific were shipped in unmarked freighters and 
vessels. 
(13) It is time to recognize the defenders of Ba-
taan, Corregidor, Attu and other places throughout 
the Pacific who were ordinary men and women who 
found uncommon courage in extraordinary cir-
cumstances. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) IMPACTED SASKINAXˆ
PEOPLE.—The term 
‘‘impacted Saskinaxˆ people’’ refers to the indigenous 
peoples of the Near Islands, which includes Attu and 
the westernmost Alaskan islands, who were on the 
islands during the period beginning on December 8, 
1941, and ending on August 15, 1945. 
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(2) INDIVIDUALS WHO FOUGHT FOR OR WITH 
THE UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘individuals who 
fought for or with the United States’’— 
(A) includes any individual who— 
(i) was in the Pacific theater at any 
time during the period beginning on De-
cember 8, 1941, and ending on August 15, 
1945; and 
(ii)(I) served honorably as a member 
of the United States Armed Forces or at 
the command of the United States Armed 
Forces in the defensive battles in the Pa-
cific from December 8, 1941 to June 9, 
1942; or 
(II) became a prisoner of war of Im-
perial Japan during World War II until 
August 15, 1945, including civilians who 
the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces con-
sidered military prisoners of war and re-
ceived veterans status after the war; and 
(B) does not include a member of the Pa-
cific Fleet or the Hawaiian Department. 
(3) PACIFIC THEATER.—The term ‘‘Pacific the-
ater’’ means Shanghai, the Central Pacific Area, the 
Southwest Pacific Area, and the Aleutian Islands. 
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(4) RESISTANCE OR BATTLE.—The term ‘‘re-
sistance or battle’’ includes an action in and around 
Shanghai, Tientsin, Guam, Wake Island, the Dutch 
East Indies, Borneo, the Philippines, Midway Island, 
or the Aleutian Islands. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Treasury. 
SEC. 4. 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 
collective award, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal 
of appropriate design to the individuals who fought for 
or with the United States to defend Bataan, Corregidor, 
Attu, and other places in the Pacific theater, and to the 
impacted Saskinaxˆ people, in recognition of their personal 
sacrifice and service during World War II. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 
award under subsection (a), the Secretary shall strike the 
gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscrip-
tions, 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 National Museum of American 
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