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Civil Air Patrol: Congressional Gold Medal

Civil Air Patrol: Congressional Gold Medal

Posted: 17 May 2014 12:08AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Sconiers, Harrell
Anybody out there have an ancestor or family member who was a Civil Air Patrol Member during WWII? Those who were members during WWII, were the first CAP members who served and performed wartime missions during WWII, however they were never awarded for their service. In 2011, a bill HR-755, was introduced to award CAP WWII members an Congressional Gold Medal (CGM) and the Senate has voted to pass the bill. The House of congress still has to vote on the HR-755 bill (May or June 2014), but if the bill passes, then CAP WWII members will at last, 69 years since WWII ended, CAP WWII members will at last be awarded an Congressional Gold Medal!

Anyone who was CAP member from Dec. 7, 1941 - Sept. 2, 1945, or their family member may submit their name to the CGM eligibility list.
Go to http://capmembers.com/cap_national_hq/goldmedal/

In addition, the CAP historical department is searching for CAP WWII members or their families in hopes to collect any historical archives they may have. Much of the CAP records were not kept or destroyed.
For more information contact Frank Blazich, Chief Historian at (614) 732-4776 orfrank.blazich@gmail.com

My mother Bobelle W. (Sconiers) Harrell became a pilot and a CAP member in WWII, and flew routes for the CAP. She started late in WWII, but I submitted her name to the CGM eligibility list and she has been confirmed as eligible for the award.
But I wanted to provide this information so that others who may have served in the CAP in WWII, will know about the CGM award and have the opportunity to submit their names for this prestigious award!
If the bill passes, a ceremony in Washington, DC will be planned (possibly in 2015).

Not many people know about the CAP and it's history, so I'm including some here. There is also more CAP history at an online CAP museum athttp://www.caphistory.org/

Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is now the civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force (USAF). CAP consists primarily of civilian volunteers, and was originally an auxiliary of the Army Air Corps and organized along enemy lines.
It was created by Administrative Order 9 in December 1941, with Maj. Gen. John F. Curry as the first CAP national commander. The organization was originally formed to provide civilian air support to aid the war effort of World War II through border and coastal patrols, military training assistance, courier services and other activities.
In the late 1930s, more than 150,000 volunteers with a love for aviation argued for an organization to put their planes and flying skills to use in defense of their country. As a result, the Civil Air Patrol was born one week prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Thousands of volunteer members answered America's call to national service and sacrifice by accepting and performing critical wartime missions. Assigned to the War Department under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps, the contributions of Civil Air Patrol, including logging more than 500,000 flying hours, sinking two enemy submarines, and saving hundreds of crash victims during World War II, are well documented.

CAP planes were armed with either a single 100-pound bomb or a single 300-pound depth charge. Which weapon a plane carried depended on its size and horsepower. The CAP is officially credited with sinking or damaging two of the German submarines it attacked.
During the time CAP flew coast missions, it lost 90 planes in the sea. Most of the crew members were rescued, but 26 men died from drowning or exposure.
” Officially, the CAP is credited with spotting 173 submarines and attacking 57 of them with bombs or depth charges. At its peak in 1944, the CAP had 125,000 members and 45,000 pilots. Fifty-seven CAP members died from accidents, including the 26 who died while flying coastal patrol.

These efforts were recognized and, after the close of the war, It was incorporated as a non-profit organization of volunteers and declared to be of a benevolent nature, never again to be involved in direct combat activities.

Sources:
http://www.americainwwii.com/articles/guarding-the-home-skie...
http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/about/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Civil_Air_Patrol
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