Dallas, TX. – A major step in the campaign to secure a Congressional Gold Medal recognizing Civil Air Patrol members’ service to the country during World War II was taken Thursday evening when the U.S. Senate unanimously approved S. 418, introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. “This legislation will offer long overdue recognition to a small group of people who answered the call to duty at our nation’s time of maximum danger,” Harkin, commander of CAP's Congressional Squadron, told his colleagues during his floor statement. In the House of Representatives, where an identical measure, H.R. 719, is pending, well over half the 290 co-sponsors needed to guarantee passage have been secured – including (your state’s representative[s], including districts represented). (At http://members.gocivilairpatrol.com/cap_national_hq/cap-congressional-gold-medal/, co-sponsors in the House can be found by clicking the CGM Results - 9 May link.) Additional co-sponsors are sought, and those interested in helping with the effort can contact can contact their congressional representative. The measure, if also approved by the House, will authorize creation of a single gold medal to honor CAP’s pioneering members for their contributions in helping safeguard the nation’s shores and shipping early in the war. Those members, often using their own aircraft, displayed heroism that discouraged and eventually stopped deadly German U-boat attacks on supply ships leaving American ports headed to support the Allied war effort. The Gold Medal will honor the brave sacrifice of early CAP members from throughout the United States – including, in (your state), such selfless volunteers as (any of your state’s members that you know of, with hometowns if that information is known). Anyone who served as an adult member of CAP during the war, or a relative of such a member, is invited to contact Holley Dunagin, hdunagin@capnhq.gov, at National Headquarters with information about their service.
“These
members from our earliest days as an organization helped save lives and
preserve our nation’s freedom,” said Maj. Gen. Chuck Carr, CAP national
commander. “They were truly unsung heroes of the war, using their small private
aircraft to not only search for enemy submarines close to America’s shores, but
also to tow targets for military practice, to transport critical supplies
within the country and to conduct general airborne reconnaissance. Because the military lacked
the necessary ships and aircraft to respond and the attacks were so numerous
and successful, the entire early war effort was threatened. At the insistence
of the oil industry, the military decided to use CAP’s civilian assistance as a
90-day experiment. This wartime Coastal Patrol service was considered highly
unusual because these “subchasers” were civilian volunteers flying combat
missions at great personal risk. Of the 59 CAP pilots killed during World War
II, 26 were lost while on Coastal Patrol duty, and seven others were seriously
injured while carrying out the missions. Its more than 61,000 members fly some 112,000 hours annually, performing 90 percent of inland search and rescue in the U.S. – as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and other agencies – and carrying out aerial reconnaissance for homeland security, providing aerial imagery to document the effects of natural or manmade disasters and assisting federal law enforcement agencies in the war on drugs.
The organization’s support for aerospace education in the schools and the community includes providing support for educational conferences and workshops nationwide and developing, publishing and distributing, without charge, national academic standards-based aerospace education curricula focusing on the STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – for kindergarten through college classrooms.
CAP’s 27,000 members in
the cadet ranks, ages 12 through 20, receive training in four main program
areas – leadership, aerospace, fitness and character development – and each
year the organization’s cadets account for about 10 percent of the new class entering
the U.S. Air Force Academy. Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, is a nonprofit organization with more than 61,000 members nationwide, operating a fleet of 550 aircraft. CAP, in its Air Force auxiliary role, performs 90 percent of continental U.S. inland search and rescue missions as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center and was credited by the AFRCC with saving 54 lives in fiscal year 2011. Its volunteers also perform homeland security, disaster relief and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state and local agencies. The members play a leading role in aerospace education and serve as mentors to nearly 27,000 young people currently participating in the CAP cadet programs. CAP received the World Peace Prize in 2011 and has been performing missions for America for 70 years. CAP also participates in Wreaths Across America, an initiative to remember, honor and teach about the sacrifices of U.S. military veterans. Visit www.gocivilairpatrol.com or www.capvolunteernow.com for more information. |
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