III

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 406

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 15, 2002

Received

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Honoring and commending the Lao Veterans of America,

Laotian and Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War, and

their families, for their historic contributions to the

United States.

Whereas one of the largest clandestine operations in United

States military history was conducted in Laos during the

Vietnam War;

Whereas the Central Intelligence Agency and the United

States Armed Forces recruited, organized, trained, and

assisted Laotian and Hmong guerrilla units and conventional forces, including ethnic lowland Lao and highland
2

HCON 406 RDS

Laotians composed of Hmong, Khmu, Mien, Yao, Lahu,

and other diverse tribal and nontribal ethnic groups,

from 1960 through 1975 to combat the North Vietnamese Army and Communist Pathet Lao forces;

Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces who served in the

United States sponsored ‘‘Secret Army’’ courageously

saved numerous American pilots and aircrews who were

shot down over Laos or North Vietnam and interdicted

and helped to destroy many enemy units and convoys intended to engage United States military forces in combat;

Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces served in key

roles with air force elements of the United States Air

Force, United States Navy carrier-based air units,

United States Army heliborne units, and the Central Intelligence Agency’s ‘‘Air America’’ in distinguished roles

such as T–28 fighter pilots, ‘‘Raven’’ spotter co-pilots,

Forward Air Guides, and mobile group rescue and combat reconnaissance units;

Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces, including highly

decorated group mobile units, served in daring and courageous heliborne and airborne combat operations in support of joint United States and Royal Lao Army military

operations in Laos and Vietnam, including interdiction of

enemy troop movements and supply convoys using the Ho

Chi Minh Trail;

Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces guarded one of

the most highly sensitive United States intelligence and

electronic targeting sites in all of Southeast Asia during

the Vietnam War, LIMA Site 85, which permitted the

United States Air Force and Navy to conduct the allweather and night bombing of enemy targets in North

Vietnam;
3

HCON 406 RDS

Whereas tens of thousands of members of the Laotian and

Hmong special forces and their families were trapped in

Laos when the Communists took over, and many of these

persons were brutally persecuted, imprisoned, or killed

because of their role in defending Laos and assisting the

United States as allies;

Whereas many of those members of the Laotian and Hmong

special forces and their families who avoided capture suffered for years in horrific conditions as political refugees

in refugee camps in neighboring Thailand;

Whereas the United States is now the home to significant

communities of the Laotian and Hmong veterans and

their families after providing them with political asylum,

refugee status, and citizenship because of their unique

contribution to United States national security interests

during the Vietnam War;

Whereas the Lao Veterans of America was founded as a nonprofit veterans organization in 1990 to honor and assist

Laotian and Hmong veterans who served with or assisted

the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam

War;

Whereas the Lao Veterans of America has established chapters throughout the United States that have sought to

serve their communities and educate the public about the

historic contribution of the Lao and Hmong veterans

during the Vietnam War;

Whereas the Lao Veterans of America spearheaded and led

national efforts in the Congress to seek to provide citizenship to elderly Laotian and Hmong veterans, as well

as their spouses or widows;
4

HCON 406 RDS

Whereas in 1995, a historic Lao Veterans of America ceremony was held at the airbase and headquarters of the

144th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard in Fresno, California, along with a memorial service and overflights of T–28 fighter aircraft to honor the Laotian and

Hmong veterans, their American advisers, and the Lao

Veterans of America and other veterans organizations;

Whereas in 1997, long overdue national recognition and

honor was finally bestowed upon the Lao Veterans of

America and thousands of Laotian and Hmong veterans

and their American advisers at the Vietnam Veterans

Memorial in the District of Columbia and at Arlington

National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, by Members of

the Congress and representatives of the United States intelligence, military, and diplomatic communities;

Whereas in 1997, a monument was dedicated at Arlington

National Cemetery by the Lao Veterans of America to

honor the Laotian and Hmong veterans and their American advisers who served during the Vietnam War; and

Whereas in 2000, thousands of additional Lao and Hmong

veterans were again honored, after a veterans memorial

service and parade lead by the Lao Veterans of America

that progressed from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial,

past the White House, and down Pennsylvania Avenue to

the United States Capitol, where a national commemorative service was held: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That Congress honors and commends the Lao

3 Veterans of America, Laotian and Hmong veterans of the

4 Vietnam War who served with or assisted the United

5 States Armed Forces, and the families of these Laotian
5

HCON 406 RDS

1 and Hmong veterans, for their historic contributions to

2 the United States.

Passed the House of Representatives October 10,

2002.

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL,

Clerk.