In a previous article, I wrote about the Office of Strategic Services Congressional Gold Medal Act (HR 3929) which was introduced in 2015 by the OSS Society with the hopes of awarding the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in recognition of their superior service and major contributions during World War II. Your help is needed now more than ever to help get it passed.

The OSS was the World War II predecessor to the CIA and the US Special Operations Command. It drew its personnel from every branch of the military. Its founder was Medal of Honor recipient General William “Wild Bill” Donovan whom FDR said was his “secret legs” and President Eisenhower called the “last hero.”

Donovan said that members of the OSS performed “some of the bravest acts of the war.” They included the actor and Marine Sterling Hayden, who received a Silver Star and starred in The Godfather and Dr. Strangelove; Virginia Hall, the only American civilian woman to receive the Distinguished Service Cross during World War II; Col. Aaron Bank, a founder of US Special Forces; Ralph Bunche, the first person of color to receive the Nobel Peace Prize; the “French Chef” Julia Child; Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.; Christian Lambertsen, the “father of the frogmen”; Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg; the legendary baseball player Moe Berg; Marlene Dietrich, Navy Lt. Ted Morde who could have been the inspiration for Indiana Jones; and many others. The OSS Operational Groups were predecessors to US Army Special Forces. The OSS Maritime Unit was a predecessor to the US Navy SEALs, which recruited its operational swimmers from the United States Coast Guard. The 801st/492nd Bombardment Group (“Carpetbaggers”), the air arm of the OSS, were predecessors to the AFSOC.  – Charles Pinck, President of the OSS Society

The status of the Office of Strategic Services Congressional Gold Medal Act (HR 3929):

I spoke with the president of the OSS Society over the weekend and he needs your help to get the bill passed through Congress. It has already passed the Senate with 73 co-sponsors and it is awaiting approval with 318 cosponsors in the House – 73% of the House members – nearly 20 more than the number of cosponsors needed for passage by House rules. It is the only Gold Medal bill in Congress that has been passed by the Senate and has the requisite number of cosponsors for passage by the House.

What you can do to help:

Please e-mail or call Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader, today at 202-225-4000 and ask him to pass the OSS Congressional Gold Medal Act (HR 3929) to honor some of the greatest members of the “greatest generation.”