[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S.J. Res. 51 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. J. RES. 51

Authorizing special awards to veterans of service as United States Navy 
            Armed Guards during World War I or World War II.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 6, 2000

 Mrs. Murray introduced the following joint resolution; which was read 
         twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                            JOINT RESOLUTION


 
Authorizing special awards to veterans of service as United States Navy 
            Armed Guards during World War I or World War II.

Whereas the naval officers, gunners, radiomen, medics, and radarmen in the crews 
        of the American cargo ships of World War II comprised the United States 
        Navy Armed Guard for those ships;
Whereas the various United States Navy Armed Guard detachments comprised the 
        United States Navy Armed Guard Special Force, which grew during World 
        War II to a force of 144,970 personnel by the end of that war;
Whereas of the 6,236 merchant ships (including the 2,710 famous Liberty Ships) 
        on which the United States Navy Armed Guards served during World War I, 
        720 ships (including 216 Liberty Ships) were sunk, and many more were 
        damaged by enemy action;
Whereas of the members of the United States Navy Armed Guard Special Force 
        serving during World War II, approximately 1,810 died and many more were 
        wounded in the service of their country, a casualty rate that grimly 
        rivals the casualty rate of any other defined force of the Armed Forces 
        during World War II;
Whereas on April 4, 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation, 
        ``with each Commander in Chief to follow doing the same'', designating 
        May 22, 1945, as National Maritime Day in honor of those who sailed the 
        oceans and seas transporting supplies of every sort to peaceful nations 
        and war-torn nations of the world;
Whereas the United States Navy Armed Guards sailed the oceans and seas on 
        merchant ships to protect important cargo from capture or destruction by 
        the enemy, many times while under heavy fire, and many times staying on 
        their ships to continue to fight, as they were given orders to do, by 
        firing their guns even until the decks of their ships were awash and 
        sinking beneath the ocean waves;
Whereas great nations of the world that now are free because, at least in part, 
        of the sacrifices of the United States Navy Armed Guards, and many of 
        those nations have awarded special medals in recognition of the heroic 
        actions of the members of the United States Navy Armed Guard Special 
        Force;
Whereas the United States Government has failed to follow the lead of those 
        great nations in recognizing the former members of the United States 
        Navy Armed Guard Special Force with a special medal that honors them as 
        the American heroes that they are;
Whereas the United States Government has recognized the military character of 
        the service of the United States Navy Armed Guards by awarding each of 
        them at least one of the three World War II campaign medals for service 
        in the American Theater, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, and the Europe-
        Africa-Middle-East Theater;
Whereas the mariners who served as the United States Navy Armed Guards for 
        United States cargo ships during World War I were equally dedicated, 
        intrepid, and heroic, and are equally deserving of recognition with a 
        special medal; and
Whereas the United States has not heretofore adequately recognized the heroism 
        and sacrifices of the members of the United States Navy Armed Guard 
        Special Force during either World War I or World War II: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AWARDS FOR MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY ARMED GUARD.

    The President is authorized and urged to award--
            (1) to each person who served at sea as a member of the 
        United States Navy Armed Guard Special Force during World War I 
        or World War II a special medal of a design appropriate for 
        recognizing service to the United States as a United States 
        Navy Armed Guard as being service in a special force of the 
        United States Navy, together with accompanying ribbons and 
        appurtenances and a Presidential Unit Citation; and
            (2) to each person who served exclusively on shore duty as 
        a member of the United States Navy Armed Guard Special Force 
        during World War I or World War II a special pin or badge of a 
        design appropriate for recognizing service in the United States 
        Navy Armed Guards Special Force as service in a military 
        organization of the United States Navy.
                                 <all>