CCAC to Review Ghost Army Medal Designs

33

CCAC meeting for Nov 15,2022The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) will hold a two-hour teleconference meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15, to review candidate designs for the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to the Ghost Army and to discuss their annual report for 2022.

The CCAC is tasked with advising the Secretary of the Treasury on themes and designs pertaining to all United States coins and medals.

Specifically, key agenda topics stated for the meeting include:

  • Review of the 2022 Annual Report,
  • Review and discussion of candidate designs for the Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal,
  • and other business.

Public Law 117-85, or the Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act, awards the Congressional Gold Medal to the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and the 3133d Signal Service Company — the "Ghost Army," in recognition of their distinguished service in conducting deception operations in Europe during World War II.

CCAC Meeting Time and Public Listening Option

The CCAC meeting on the 15th begins at 10:00 a.m. and is scheduled to last until 12:00 p.m. (EST).

Anyone interested may dial in to listen to the meeting at (888) 330-1716 and using access code: 1137147.

For members of the public, this meeting is for "listen purposes only" — no comments or questions will be taken, and phones must be muted. Instead, those wanting to offer matters for the CCAC’s consideration are invited to submit them by email to info@ccac.gov.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

33 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Kaiser Wilhelm

In honor of the Ghost Army’s Congressional Gold Medal the U.S. Mint will be sending a No Proof Ghost Version Immaterial Coin to all its loyal customers.

Pictured below are four views of this coin:
Obverse, Reverse, Edge and 3-D

35zf67.jpg
Antonio

Good one.

Space-Ghost-cartoon.jpg
Antonio

In case you don’t know who this character is.

Space_Ghost_TV_Series-803930044-mmed.jpg
Chris Terp

From coast-to-coast 😉

Kaiser Wilhelm

I guess we can always count on the indomitable Space Ghost. BTW, has he shown any inclination to throw in his lot with the U.S. Space Force?

th.jpg
Kaiser Wilhelm

If you weren’t such a good guy I’d be upset with you for spoiling the big surprise since that ethereal spirit is the one delivering the complementary Ghost Coin.

Antonio

Sorry about that. I thought Casper was going to.

FullSizeRender-7.jpg
Kaiser Wilhelm

Antonio,
That’s certainly not something I’m likely to hold a grudge about. As it is, Casper would have been the Mint’s first choice thanks to his very engaging demeanor, but it just so happens he’d already signed a contract with a competitor to see to the last generation of 90% Silver Circulating Coinage, as is stated clearly on his “flyer” below…

51JmgBzEzbL._SY445_.jpg
Last edited 4 months ago by Kaiser Wilhelm
Antonio

He’s missing a year.

1964-roosevelt-dime-bu_12191_obv.jpg
Kaiser Wilhelm

That job went to someone else.

26fa4caa33e2c1f431d4f4a64e1ce0df.jpg
Chris Terp

It will be interesting to see what depiction will highlight this commemorative. Maybe the outfits designation 23rd Headquarters Special Troops? I have no idea what this units mascot was?

Kaiser Wilhelm

I’m just guessing here, Chris Terp, but when you say mascot perhaps you mean the unit’s nickname, which in this case is the “Ghost Army.”

Chris Terp

I meant to write insignia. As I have no idea what was ever depicted for this unit.

Kaiser Wilhelm

As you will see from my (longer) explanation below, the “Ghost Army” never existed as an official entity of the United States Army, therefore its component detachments retained their original unit insignias.

Red, White & Blue

The children here have posted cartoons on this legitimate site for months like its Saturday morning everyday for them. No one can learn about coins here any longer, but you can learn out how to out do each other with cartoons. Geesh, new collectors landing here on this page are in for a shock. But now to satirize the honorable soldier’s who fought for freedom is going to far. SHAME!

Antonio

Apologies.

617a96bfe60b5416c90be5ed_ghostarmy.jpg
Chris Terp

Well that’s a nifty insignia for the Ghost Army.

Antonio

The 23rd Headquarters Special Troops insignia.

Ghostarmypatch.jpg
Antonio

The 3133d Signal Service Company insignia.

super-3133rd-signal-service-co-patch_1_1c8e0bb9909df9db024735806a30949c.jpg
Kaiser Wilhelm

The 603rd Camouflage Engineers insignia.

603rd Camouflage Engineers.jpg
Kaiser Wilhelm

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any insignia for the fourth component unit of the Ghost Army, Signal Service Company Special.

Kaiser Wilhelm

The 406th Combat Engineers insignia.

406th Combat Engineers.jpg
Kaiser Wilhelm

Interestingly enough, Chris Terp, that insignia wasn’t created until after the end of WWII and as such had never been issued as a unit badge for the “Ghost Army.” During the hostilities, even as the four components of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops coordinated all plans, tactics and operations with each other, they nevertheless kept their original unit identities rather than having been re-organized into one officially designated military force.

Antonio

So what’s the purpose of the Congressional Gold Medal?

Kaiser Wilhelm

Antonio, The fact that the Ghost Army wasn’t merged into a standard U.S. Army unit classification shouldn’t be thought of as having any bearing on the incalculably valuable service they performed for the Allied Cause from well before D-Day right through to the end of the War. By employing extensive varieties of subterfuge in order to seriously confuse and thereby effectively downgrade the German Military’s warfighting capability the Ghost Army was in fact able to project the placement of “U.S. troops and equipment” where there in fact were none and thus could protect the actual American troops either directly on… Read more »

Antonio

How many members are still alive to receive such honor? Seems a LITTLE late to come up with a medal NOW.

Kaiser Wilhelm

There are several key factors at play here, Antonio. First of all, the Ghost Army was kept an official government secret until 1996, so that restriction in and of itself held up any possible developments regarding commemoration of this achievement. Additionally, it is not at all unusual for some of the highest awards such as the Medal of Honor to be awarded late and/or posthumously, so there is definitely plenty of precedent for that practice. Finally, major commendations such as this one that are required to originate in Congress take a certain amount of time to work their way through… Read more »

national-ww2-museum-ghost-army-exhibit-line-raynor-mayson.jpg
Antonio

In response

Pogo 4.jpg
Kaiser Wilhelm

We can always count on you, Antonio, to shine a light upon the darkness.

R.jpg
Antonio

Thanks for the memories

b10cae82759a9d3e1ec4debbe671eb1891477d8442db34d4a8a16c4fdae49550._RI_.jpg
Kaiser Wilhelm

That Bob; more chevrons and rockers than a Master General Sergeant.

Antonio

Ask not what your country can do for you….wait a minute! We pay taxes!

Kaiser Wilhelm

We have an ironic system of taxation, Antonio, in which people who don’t make enough money to pay taxes have something in common with people who make the most money, which is that those folks don’t pay any taxes either. Essentially, our “welfare classes” are the poverty stricken and the immensely wealthy.

Last edited 4 months ago by Kaiser Wilhelm