World War II homeland heroes receive Congressional Gold Medal

Courtesy Photo | Civil Air Patrol Col. Lester Wolff, a World War II sub-chaser and former U.S. representative from New York, speaks during a ceremony that awarded all World War II-era Civil Air Patrol members with Congressional Gold Medals in Washington.  

COLUMBUS, OH, UNITED STATES

04.15.2015

Story by Thomas Perry 

Defense Contract Management Agency

COLUMBUS, Ohio - After the Pearl Harbor attack, the Civil Air Patrol began protecting U.S. shipping against German U-boat attacks and executing vital wartime domestic missions.

America’s anger surrounding the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor led directly to the United States’ entry into World War II. The audacity of the surprise attack rallied the nation and spurred a collective effort toward victory.

Thanks to movies, television, books and oral history, most Americans maintain some knowledge of the “greatest generation’s” heroics. Few are aware of the Civil Air Patrol’s story, however. Today, CAP maintains a role of public, education and emergency service as the official civilian auxiliary of the Air Force, but a week after the Pearl Harbor attack, the newly formed organization was called to arms. Throughout the war, 200,000 volunteers answered, protecting U.S. shipping against German U-boat attacks and executing vital wartime domestic missions.

The coastal patrols alone were responsible for spotting 173 U-boats and attacking 57 of them. 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. Remarkably, the group spent 70 years in the shadows as forgotten homeland security assets.

According to CAP Lt. Col. Paul Bronsdon, a Defense Contract Management Agency team member, some were unsatisfied with the group’s anonymity. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa (now retired), and CAP Col. John Swain, the air patrol’s Washington, D.C., representative, decided it was time for a change. In 2011, they drafted legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal to World War II Civilian Air Patrol members. Soon an army of current and former CAP members began telephone and letter writing campaigns requesting congressional support for the bill.

Bronsdon was a proud campaign participant. Like so many other members, his gold medal efforts and CAP responsibilities are a secondary job. His full-time employment is as DCMA Information Technology Directorate’s test director at the Application Test Center in Columbus, Ohio.

With more than 30 years of federal service, Bronsdon takes his governmental responsibilities seriously. He has taken multiple breaks during his CAP career whenever he felt its requirements could negatively impact his federal duties. With the clock ticking, he and many others knew they must forge a collective effort to ensure CAP’s World War II story was both told and honored. Today, less than 100 CAP members from its war-era origins are known to be alive.

“Civil Air Patrol seems to have been our nation’s best kept wartime historical secret,” said Bronsdon, who is both the air patrol’s Ohio Wing legislative squadron commander and government relations adviser. “We must remember that this all-volunteer organization was stood up to help defend our nation’s coastal waters and shipping when the country was extremely vulnerable to ongoing enemy attack by Germany. At that time the U.S. was not prepared nor equipped to handle the threat, so volunteerism buoyed to the surface to help counter the threat.”

After the legislation was created, teams comprising of wing government relations advisers, wing commanders, wing vice-commanders and senior cadet officers from all 50 states would meet annually with their respective congressional representatives to request their sponsorship and support.

Finally in December, their letters, phone calls, meetings and determination were rewarded.

“World War II could have turned out a lot differently if not for the men and women of the Civil Air Patrol,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky during the ceremony awarding all World War II era CAP members with Congressional Gold Medals in Washington.

Since December, similar ceremonies have been held across the country. In March, a presentation was held at the Ohio statehouse for gold medal recipients.

“Planning this ceremony was one of the coolest projects I have ever put together,” said Bronsdon. “We all have an extreme sense of accomplishment and are extremely proud of the recognition our veterans are finally receiving. We have all felt that this recognition is better late than never. For me personally, I cannot describe how proud I was to be the person to officially notify our three surviving Ohio veterans that they had finally been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. That experience was priceless to me.”

• Date Taken: 04.15.2015
• Date Posted: 04.15.2015 08:52
• Story ID: 160012
• Location: COLUMBUS, OH, US