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Congressional Gold Medal honors Civil Air Patrol's World War II service

  • Published
  • By Julie DeBardelaben,
  • Deputy Director, Public Affairs, CAP National Headquarters
WASHINGTON, D.C. --  Forty-six founding Civil Air Patrol members were present today to see the organization honored with the Congressional Gold Medal for the service they and more than 200,000 other CAP volunteers provided during World War II, when they helped proect U.S. shipping against German U-boat attacks and carried out other vital wartime domestic missions.

Speaker of the House John Boehner presented the medal to CAP National Commander Maj. Gen. Joe Vazquez and former U.S. Rep. Lester Wolff, who served in CAP's New York Wing during the war, in a 40-minute ceremony that began at 3 p.m. Eastern time in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol.

Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas all spoke before the presentation, describing CAP members' acts of selfless service in volunteering to help protect the homefront during the war.

The CAP members being honored "were just private citizens who wanted to lend a hand. They also lent their planes, their two-way radios and their replacement parts," Boehner said.

"They weren't pressed into serving - the government was pressed into letting them serve."

"World War II could have turned out a lot differently if not for the men and women of the Civil Air Patrol," McConnell told the gathering.

"Today's gold medal may be overdue, but it's well-deserved. It's the highest civilian honor we can bestow, and we're proud to bestow it."

Reid acknowledged the service of the World War II members present while also praising those no longer alive to see their service recognized. "Their acts of heroism and bravery will never be forgotten," he said.

Wolff described the full scope of CAP's wartime service, telling his audience that the Coastal Patrol mission "began in the dark days following Pearl Harbor, when submarines were sinking oil tankers within sight of East Coast cities."

"For 18 months we patrolled the Atlantic and Gulf coasts hunting submarines, escorting thousands of ships and searching for attack survivors," he said.

Coastal Patrol pilots flew 24 million miles through August 1943 over the Atlantic and Gulf coasts in order to ward off German U-boat attacks against U.S. shipping - especially domestic oil tankers bound for Europe to help fuel the military machine. They did so at the request of the U.S. Petroleum Industry War Council, because the U.S. Navy lacked the resources to guard against the submarine attacks and provide escorts for commercial convoys.

Flying out of 21 bases located along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Maine to the southern tip of Texas, Coastal Patrol pilots spotted 173 U-boats and attacked 57. They also escorted more than 5,600 convoys and reported 17 floating mines, 36 bodies, 91 ships in distress and 363 survivors in the water.

Elsewhere, CAP members patrolled the country's southern border by air, vigilant for potential saboteurs. Others towed targets for military trainees, watched for forest fires, conducted search and rescue missions, provided disaster relief and emergency transport of people and parts and conducted orientation flights for future pilots.
In all, 65 CAP members lost their lives in the line of duty by the end of the war, including 26 Coastal Patrol participants.

"Every one of those lives was given to defend this nation," Wolff said. "We accept this award particularly for those who did not come home."
In introducing Wolff, Vazquez referred to the World War II members as "brave and heroic citizen volunteers from America's greatest generation. They served valiantly on the home front and along the coasts, helping to save lives and preserve our nation's freedom."

Along with the 46 members present, more than 50 other pioneering CAP members were represented by family members attending the ceremony.

The gold medal will be placed on permanent display in the Smithsonian Institution. Three-inch bronze replicas will be presented to the veterans and families tonight at a celebratory dinner sponsored by CITGO at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, where bronze replica medals will be presented to the World War II-era CAP members courtesy of the oil giant. Sunoco and Sunoco Logistic are also major sponsors of the events.

In addition to the bronze replicas being distributed tonight, World War II members and families unable to attend today's events will be presented with replicas of their own in local ceremonies later. Anyone wishing to buy a replica will be able to do so by ordering through the U.S. Mint starting Thursday. 

The story of CAP's World War II service and its members' wartime experiences can be found on the organization's Congressional Gold Medal website.