1.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Within hours
after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the Imperial Japanese forces
launched an attack on the Philippines, cutting off vital lines of communication
to United States and Filipino troops assigned to the United States Army Forces
in the Far East under the command of General Douglas MacArthur.
(2)On December 8th,
1941, the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment, successors to the New Mexico National
Guardsmen who made up part of the famed Rough Riders
of the
Spanish-American War, were the first to fire
.
(3)Despite being cut
off from supply lines and reinforcements, the United States and Philippine
Forces quickly executed a plan to delay the Japanese invasion and defend the
Philippines against the Japanese invasion.
(4)By April 1942,
troops from the United States and the Philippines had bravely and staunchly
fought off enemy attacks in Bataan for more than 4 months under strenuous
conditions that resulted in widespread starvation and disease.
(5)By maintaining
their position and engaging the enemy for as long as they did, the troops at
Bataan were able to redefine the momentum of the war, delaying the Japanese
timetable to take control of the southeast Pacific for needed war materials.
Because of the Bataan defenders' heroic actions, United States and Allied
forces throughout the Pacific had time to regroup and prepare for the
successful liberation of the Pacific and the Philippines.
(6)On April 9, 1942,
Major General Edward King, his troops suffering from starvation and a lack of
supplies, surrendered the soldiers from the United States and the Philippines
into enemy hands.
(7)Over the next
week, troops from the United States and the Philippines were taken prisoner and
forced to march 65 miles without any food, water, or medical care in what came
to be known as the Bataan Death March
.
(8)During this
forced march, thousands of soldiers died, either from starvation, lack of
medical care, sheer exhaustion, or abuse by their captors.
(9)Conditions at the
prisoner of war camps were appalling, leading to increased disease and
malnutrition among the prisoners.
(10)The prisoners at
Camp O'Donnell would die at a rate of nearly 400 per day because of its poor
conditions.
(11)On June 6, 1942,
the prisoners from the United States were transferred to Camp Cabanatuan, north
of Camp O'Donnell.
(12)Nearly 26,000 of
the 50,000 Filipino Prisoners of War died at Camp O’Donnell, and survivors were
gradually paroled from September through December 1942.
(13)Between
September of 1942 and December of 1944, American prisoners of war who survived
the horrific death march were shipped north for forced labor aboard hell
ships
and succumbed in great numbers because of the abysmal conditions.
Many of the ships were mistakenly targeted by allied Naval forces because the
Japanese military convoys were not properly labeled as carrying prisoners of
war. The sinking of the Arisan Maru alone, claimed nearly 1,800 American
lives.
(14)The prisoners
who remained in the camps suffered from continued mistreatment, malnutrition,
lack of medical care, and horrific conditions until they were liberated in
1945.
(15)The veterans of
Bataan represented the best of America and the Philippines. They hailed from
diverse locales across both countries and represented a true diversity of
Americans.
(16)Over the
subsequent decades, these prisoners formed support groups, were honored in
local and State memorials, and told their story to all people of the United
States.
(17)The United
States Navy has continued to honor their history and stories by naming 2 ships
after the battle including 1 ship still in service, USS Bataan (LHD–5), in
memory of their valor and honorable resistance against Imperial Japanese
forces.
(18)Many of the
survivors of Bataan have now passed away, and those who remain continue to tell
their story.
(19)The people of
the United States and the Philippines are forever indebted to these men
for—
(A)the courage and
tenacity they demonstrated during the first 4 months of World War II fighting
against enemy soldiers; and
(B)the perseverance
they demonstrated during 3 years of capture, imprisonment, and atrocious
conditions, while maintaining dignity, honor, patriotism, and loyalty.
2.
(a)The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the
President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the
award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design
in honor of the troops from the United States and the Philippines who defended
Bataan and were subsequently prisoners of war, collectively, in recognition of
their personal sacrifice and service to their country during World War
II.
(b)For purposes of the award under subsection (a), the
Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the
Secretary) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems,
devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
(c)
(1)Following the award of the gold medal in honor of the
defenders and prisoners of war at Bataan under subsection (a), the gold medal
shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be displayed as
appropriate and made available for research.
(2)It is the sense of the Congress that the Smithsonian
Institution should make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) available
for display at other locations, particularly such locations as are associated
with the prisoners of war at Bataan.
3.
(a)Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe,
the Secretary may strike duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under
section 2.
(b)The Secretary may sell such duplicates under
subsection (a) at a price sufficient to cover the costs of such duplicates,
including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead
expenses.
4.Medals struck pursuant
to this Act are National medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United
States Code.
5.Authorization of
appropriations; proceeds of sale
(a)Authorization
of appropriationsThere is authorized to be charged against the
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 to
pay for the cost of the medal authorized under section 2.
(b)Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals
under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise
Fund.