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Congressional Gold Medal.com |
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Congressional Gold Medal Recipient Charles A. Lindbergh
Charles A. Lindbergh b. Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, 4 February 1902
d. Maui, Hawaii, 26 August 1974
Friday, 4 May 1928 Joint Resolution To provide for the coinage of a medal in commemoration of the achievements of Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in recognition of the achievements of Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and directed to cause to be struck and presented to Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary. For such purpose there is authorized to be appropriated the sum of $1,500. SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Treasury shall cause duplicates in bronze of such medal to be coined and sold, under such regulations as he may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof (including labor), and the appropriations used for carrying out the provisions of this section shall be reimbursed out of the proceeds of such sale. 45 Stat. 490
Congressional Gold Medal
Charles Augustus Lindbergh
(1902-1974) Charles Lindbergh had always loved aviation, but did not learn to fly until his college years. Then he became a wingwalker and parachutist for a barnstorming pilot, not soloing until he bought a war-surplus Curtiss Jenny in 1923. He barnstormed for a time, then entered the Army Air Corps as a pilot trainee, graduating at the head of his class in 1925 and taking a commission in the Army Air Service Reserve. After graduation he was hired as chief pilot for Robertson Aircraft Corporation, one of the first private companies to win a commercial contract from the Postal Service to fly the airmail. Nicknamed "Lucky Lindy" after two successful parachute jumps from crashing mailplanes, Lindbergh left the company to try for the $25,000 Orteig Prize for the first solo non-stop New York-to-Paris flight. For the transatlantic attempt, Lindbergh helped design a special high-wing Ryan monoplane, The Spirit of St. Louis, and then set a new speed record with the aircraft on the trip from California to New York. He departed Roosevelt Field, Long Island, on 20 May 1927 and arrived at Le Bourget airport outside Paris the next day after a 33 1/2 hour flight. Instantly he became an international celebrity and world-renowned symbol of aviation. In the years following his transatlantic triumph, Lindbergh flew several long-distance demonstration flights, became a consultant for two U.S. airlines, and made many international flights of exploration. Just prior to World War II he travelled to Germany to report on the growth of the Nazi air force. During the war Lindbergh was instrumental in the production of B-24 bombers and worked as a test pilot. As a civilian in the Pacific, he flew fifty combat missions. Charles Lindbergh died in Hawaii in 1974.
President Coolidge and Col. Charles Lindbergh
CITATION: For displaying heroic courage and skill as a navigator, at the risk of his life, by his nonstop flight in his airplane, the "Spirit of St. Louis," from New York City to Paris, France, 20-21 May 1927, by which Capt. Lindbergh not only achieved the greatest individual triumph of any American citizen but demonstrated that travel across the ocean by aircraft was possible. For additional information visit
Charles Lindbergh An American Aviator
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