1. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Edwin Cole Ed Bearss was born June 26, 1923, in Billings, Montana, to Omar and Virginia Bearss. (2) During a 40-year career with the National Park Service, Mr. Bearss distinguished himself as one of America’s preeminent historians, particularly in the field of the Civil War, not only through his work to preserve the places in which our nation’s history was forged but also through his captivating interpretive storytelling about the people and events that shaped those places. (3) Mr. Bearss’ lifelong love affair with the Civil War was kindled during his youth when he read a biography of Confederate cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart. Even at an early age, Mr. Bearss demonstrated a knack for committing facts to memory, a skill that helped him win school contests in history, current events, and geography. (4) He graduated high school in May 1941 and the following year joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving with the 3rd Marine Raider Battalion during the invasion of Guadalcanal and the Russell Islands. He was badly wounded in gunfire at Suicide Creek , Cape Gloucester, New Britain, while serving with the 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division. (5) Upon returning home, Mr. Bearss attended Georgetown University, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service studies, and later attended Indiana University, earning a master’s degree in history. (6) It was during a fortuitous visit to the Shiloh National Military Park in Tennessee, on a tour with the park historian, where the seeds were planted for Mr. Bearss’ future career with the National Park Service. (7) In 1955, he landed a job as park historian at the National Battlefield Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where his research helped fill in missing pieces of Civil War history. None were more significant than the discovery of the USS Cairo, a long-lost Union ironclad gunboat sunk by Confederate submarine torpedoes in 1862 that was buried in the mud of the Yazoo River. Mr. Bearss later authored a book on the sinking and salvage of