V 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4920 

To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to Colonel Philip 

J. Conran of the United States Air Force for acts of valor in Laos 

during the Vietnam War. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2018 

Mr. CARBAJAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor 

to Colonel Philip J. Conran of the United States Air 

Force for acts of valor in Laos during the Vietnam 

War. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. AUTHORITY FOR AWARD OF THE MEDAL OF 

4 HONOR TO COLONEL PHILIP J. CONRAN FOR 

5 ACTS OF VALOR IN LAOS DURING THE VIET6 NAM WAR. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) While a Major in the United States Air 

2 Force, Philip J. Conran demonstrated extraordinary 

3 heroism in military operations against an opposing 

4 armed force as Aircraft Commander of a CH–3E 

5 helicopter of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 

6 56th Special Operations Wing, Nakhon Phanom 

7 Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, in action in Laos on 

8 October 6, 1969. 

9 (2) The military referred to Laos as ‘‘a classi10 fied location in Southeast Asia’’ until decades after 

11 the Vietnam War ended when the role of the United 

12 States in Laos was declassified. 

13 (3) While attempting to rescue the crew of a 

14 downed helicopter, Major Conran’s aircraft was hit 

15 by intense hostile ground fire, yet despite the hostile 

16 ground fire, Major Conran continued the rescue op17 eration and landed in the vicinity of the downed 

18 crewmen. 

19 (4) Once on the ground, he successfully evacu20 ated his aircraft and assumed a major role in de21 fending the crash site against an overwhelming hos22 tile force until rescue was possible six hours later. 

23 (5) Major Conran repeatedly exposed himself to 

24 heavy barrages of enemy automatic weapons fire to 


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1 extract essential equipment from the downed heli2 copters. 

3 (6) In spite of receiving a severe leg wound 

4 while exposed to enemy fire and trying to strengthen 

5 their position, Major Conran continued to encourage 

6 the others and did not mention his wound until he 

7 had lost all feeling in his leg. 

8 (7) Major Conran’s decision to come to the aid 

9 of his downed comrades, his heroic actions above 

10 and beyond the call of duty while under severe hos11 tile fire, and his positive attitude throughout the or12 deal were instrumental in enabling the two heli13 copter crews and 44 friendly troops to withstand su14 perior odds until a rescue could be made. 

15 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding the time lim16 itations specified in section 8744 of title 10, United States 

17 Code, or any other time limitation with respect to the 

18 awarding of certain medals to persons who served in the 

19 armed forces, the President is authorized to award the 

20 Medal of Honor under section 8741 of such title to retired 

21 United States Air Force Colonel Philip J. Conran for the 

22 acts of valor in Laos described in subsection (a). 

Æ 


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