GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The Congressional Gold Medal has been awarded to members of the Office of Strategic Services, an intelligence agency that operated during World War II and preceded the CIA.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan presented the medal, the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow, "on behalf of a very grateful nation" in a Wednesday ceremony at Emancipation Hall in Washington, D.C.
>>Watch live: The medal presentation ceremony
Two West Michigan men who were OSS members and their families were at the ceremony:
- Ellsworth “Al” Johnson, 95, who lives in Hudsonville. Johnson worked as a spy for the OSS during World War II. He worked with the French Resistance and was part of covert operations in Germany and China.
- Keith Cole, 93. Cole was an engineer and dispatcher for the agency's air arm, the 492nd Bomb Group. He lived in Grand Rapids for years before moving to Florida following his retirement.
In late 2016, a law (PDF) was created to strike a single Congressional Gold Medal to collectively honor the thousands of civilians and military members of the OSS.