Office of Strategic Services Congressional Gold Medal Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Foster for yielding the time.

I am deeply honored to rise today in an official capacity, but also personally, to pay tribute to the patriotic and fearless soldiers, heroes and heroines, of the OSS. Their worthiness to be awarded this Congressional Gold Medal by our Nation for heroism in battle is long overdue.

Over 13,000 exceptional Americans comprise the Office of Strategic Services formed clandestinely during World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt aimed to create a corps of specially trained intelligence warriors to help win that harrowing conflict. For these many decades since the end of World War II, the secrecy of the OSS and its member soldiers have been maintained.

I can attest to this. Our family's beloved Uncle Tony, full name Anthony Rogowski, our mother's brother, was selected as one of its members. He was a corporal and his medals include: Army Good Conduct, American Theater Medal, Pacific Theater Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Distinguished Unit badge; Army Serial Number: 35-33-943.

He is buried in a simple grave at Calvary Cemetery in Toledo, Ohio, with a gravestone marker provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Yes, there is an Army crest on its facing. But there is nothing there, nor in any other location, that would tell his family, or those who will inherit our Nation in the years ahead, what a brilliant man and brave soldier he was.

After his death, it was my particular privilege to present his precious leather flight jacket to his daughter, RoseAnn Rogowski Koperski, and his son, John Rogowski of Toledo. Uncle Tony was part of the elite OSS, trained rigorously as warfighters. We still do not know where he was trained. We know he was dispatched to the Pacific front, flown over the hump in the China-Burma-India campaign. He parachuted at night behind enemy lines under fire as he hit the ground to gather intelligence. He drove Jeeps filled with dynamite to the front along the Burma Road, fighting to cut off the supply of oil to the Japanese military.

Our bill recognizes OSS Detachment 101 that operated in Burma and pioneered the art of unconventional warfare. It was the first United States unit to deploy a large guerrilla army deep in enemy territory. It has been credited with the highest kill/loss ratio for any infantry- type unit in American military history and was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation.

Our uncle was knifed in a foxhole in Burma by a soldier from the Imperial Japanese Army, wounded badly, and he suffered throughout his life with terrible malaria bouts and flashbacks contracted in theatre.
He passed away in his mid 50s, far too young, of poor health, all due to war injuries.

He was never recognized or acknowledged for his heroism, like the other men and women who valiantly fought as members of the OSS. I loved Uncle Tony. He was a complicated man with a rare and devilish sense of humor and a hearty laugh and grin. You just knew on meeting him there was depth, as well as honor.

He was war wise, sharing gripping stories about the war when I was a child, peppered with his own conclusions about the merit of the conflicts in which he participated.

His letters sent home during the war to our mother, which she kept banded in a special corner of our parents' cedar chest, were unusual. Parts of the letters had been cut out by his superiors; others had lines that were blackened out so as not to reveal his location or any aspect of what he was doing. As a child, that fascinated me, though I did not completely understand what it meant. His family never really knew where he was deployed nor how he arrived where he was sent. He never revealed the specific details of what he actually did.

And now through this legislation, sponsored by my dear friend and colleague, Ohio Congressman Bob Latta, and 320 other Members, on a bipartisan basis, we now make America's military history more whole and complete. Frankly, it is the highest honor to pay just tribute to the OSS members, though long overdue.

As I participate in the passage of this legislation, I am reminded of how America's greatest strength is the weaving together of intergenerational experience from one era to another within our families and communities and then extended to the American family.

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Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman.

Today, in the gallery, we have noble veterans of the OSS.

We know our Nation stands on your broad shoulders.

Through their patriotism and sacrifice, America still is a young nation but is growing and is keeping what we have learned close to our hearts. In paying Gold Medal tribute to the members of the OSS, America honors those who bequeathed precious liberty to us, and we must carry that torch forward as it was carried at such a great price by our forebears.

I would like to acknowledge Charles Pinck, whose father served as a member of the OSS, for his commitment to educate the public about this valiant group.

May God bless the members of the OSS, their families and friends. May our efforts here award them the Gold they so nobly, royally, and selflessly earned, and may God continue to bless America.

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