# Understanding the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion Gold Medal Act

This bill authorizes Congress to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, a unit of African-American soldiers who played a crucial but largely forgotten role during the D-Day invasion of World War II. The medal recognizes their heroism and contributions to the Allied victory in Europe.

Here's what made this unit special and why Congress thinks they deserve this honor. The 320th was the only American barrage balloon unit in France and the only African-American combat unit to land at Normandy on D-Day. Their job was to launch hydrogen-filled balloons armed with small bombs up to 2,000 feet in the air to protect soldiers landing on the beaches from German aircraft attacks. They came up with an ingenious solution by refitting jeep-mounted equipment to deploy and control these balloons under intense enemy fire. The unit is credited with shooting down at least one German aircraft and protecting incoming ships, troops, and supplies from attack. One medic from the battalion, Corporal Waverly B. Woodson Jr., treated over 200 wounded soldiers during a 30-hour period on Omaha Beach despite being seriously injured himself—work that likely saved countless lives.

The practical effect of this bill is straightforward: the Treasury Department will create a gold medal with appropriate designs and inscriptions honoring the unit. After the medal is presented, it will go to the Smithsonian Institution where it can be displayed and studied. Congress also hopes the Smithsonian will make the medal available at other important museums, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. The bill also allows the Treasury to make and sell bronze copies of the medal to cover the costs of creating it, with any profits going back to the U.S. Mint fund. This is a symbolic recognition of a group of soldiers whose contributions to one of history's most important military operations have been largely overlooked.

320th Barrage Balloon Battalion Gold Medal Act

Veasey, Marc A.

320th Barrage Balloon Battalion Gold Medal ActThis bill provides for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal in honor of the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, collectively, in recognition of their extraordinary heroism and life-saving actions during the D-Day invasion and their significant contributions to the success of the Allied forces during World War II.