[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2101 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.2101
One Hundred Fifteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen
An Act
To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the crew of the
USS Indianapolis, in recognition of their perseverance, bravery, and
service to the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``USS Indianapolis Congressional Gold
Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Portland-class heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis received
10 battle stars between February 1942 and April 1945 while
participating in major battles of World War II from the Aleutian
Islands to Okinawa.
(2) The USS Indianapolis, commanded by Captain Charles Butler
McVay III, carried 1,195 personnel when it set sail for the island
of Tinian on July 16, 1945, to deliver components of the atomic
bomb ``Little Boy''. The USS Indianapolis set a speed record during
the portion of the trip from California to Pearl Harbor and
successfully delivered the cargo on July 26, 1945. The USS
Indianapolis then traveled to Guam and received further orders to
join Task Group 95.7 in the Leyte Gulf in the Philippines for
training. During the length of the trip, the USS Indianapolis went
unescorted.
(3) On July 30, 1945, minutes after midnight, the USS
Indianapolis was hit by 2 torpedoes fired by the I-58, a Japanese
submarine. The resulting explosions severed the bow of the ship,
sinking the ship in about 12 minutes. Of 1,195 personnel, about 900
made it into the water. While a few life rafts were deployed, most
men were stranded in the water with only a kapok life jacket.
(4) At 10:25 a.m. on August 2, 1945, 4 days after the sinking
of the USS Indianapolis, Lieutenant Wilbur Gwinn was piloting a PV-
1 Ventura bomber and accidentally noticed men in the water who were
later determined to be survivors of the sinking of the USS
Indianapolis. Lieutenant Gwinn alerted a PBY aircraft, under the
command of Lieutenant Adrian Marks, about the disaster. Lieutenant
Marks made a dangerous open-sea landing to begin rescuing the men
before any surface vessels arrived. The USS Cecil J. Doyle was the
first surface ship to arrive on the scene and took considerable
risk in using a searchlight as a beacon, which gave hope to
survivors in the water and encouraged them to make it through
another night. The rescue mission continued well into August 3,
1945, and was well-coordinated and responsive once launched. The
individuals who participated in the rescue mission conducted a
thorough search, saved lives, and undertook the difficult job of
identifying the remains of, and providing a proper burial for,
those individuals who had died.
(5) Only 316 men survived the ordeal and the survivors had to
deal with severe burns, exposure to the elements, extreme
dehydration, and shark attacks.
(6) During World War II, the USS Indianapolis frequently served
as the flagship for the commander of the Fifth Fleet, Admiral
Raymond Spruance, survived a bomb released during a kamikaze attack
(which badly damaged the ship and killed 9 members of the crew),
earned a total of 10 battle stars, and accomplished a top secret
mission that was critical to ending the war. The sacrifice,
perseverance, and bravery of the crew of the USS Indianapolis
should never be forgotten.
SEC. 3. 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 award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold
medal of appropriate design to the crew of the USS Indianapolis, in
recognition of their perseverance, bravery, and service to the United
States.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this
Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the gold medal with suitable
emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
(c) Indiana War Memorial Museum.--
(1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal referred
to in subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the Indiana
War Memorial Museum in Indianapolis, Indiana, where it will be
displayed as appropriate and made available for research.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the
Indiana War Memorial Museum should make the gold medal received
under this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly at
other locations and events associated with the USS Indianapolis.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal
struck under section 3, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the
medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--Medals struck under this Act are national
medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
(b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of
title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be
considered to be numismatic items.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.