H. R. 2693 

One Hundred Fourteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the sixth day of January, two thousand and fifteen 

An Act 

To designate the arboretum at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center 

in Richmond, Virginia, as the ‘‘Phyllis E. Galanti Arboretum’’. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

Congress makes the following findings: 

(1) Phyllis Eason Galanti, a tireless advocate for the rights 

of prisoners of war from the United States during the Vietnam 

War and a beloved member of the Richmond, Virginia, community, died on April 23, 2014. 

(2) Ms. Eason graduated from the College of William and 

Mary in 1963 and shortly afterward was married to Paul 

Edward Galanti, a pilot with the United States Navy, at the 

Chapel of the Centurion in Fort Monroe, Virginia. 

(3) In June 1966, when Mr. Galanti was shot down over 

North Vietnam, captured, and held prisoner, Phyllis E. Galanti 

became active in the National League of Families of American 

Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, soon becoming chair 

of the organization. 

(4) Mrs. Galanti spearheaded the Let’s Bring Paul Galanti 

Home project as part of the national Write Hanoi campaign— 

(A) to raise awareness; 

(B) to secure the return of more than 600 soldiers 

from the United States who were missing in action or 

held as prisoners of war in Vietnam; and 

(C) to ensure that prisoners of war were treated in 

accordance with the Geneva Conventions. 

(5) The efforts of Mrs. Galanti under the Let’s Bring Paul 

Galanti Home project, the most successful of many such campaigns, resulted in more than 1,000,000 letters that were 

personally delivered to the North Vietnamese embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1971. 

(6) Mrs. Galanti became known as ‘‘Fearless Phyllis’’, traveling to Versailles, France, seeking an audience with North 

Vietnamese leaders, and giving hundreds of presentations to 

policy leaders in the United States, including President Richard 

Nixon, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, and Virginia 

Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr., who said of her in 1975, ‘‘One 

dedicated woman and a handful of others had more influence 

on the communist world than legions of armies and diplomats.’’. 

(7) After more than seven years apart, Mrs. Galanti was 

reunited with her husband Paul Galanti at the Naval Air 

Station in Norfolk, Virginia, on February 15, 1973. 
H. R. 2693—2 

(8) Mrs. Galanti spent decades confronting the issue of 

prisoners and hostages from the United States, not only in 

Vietnam but also in the Soviet Union and Iran. 

(9) Mrs. Galanti actively supported the Virginia Home, 

Theatre IV, and the Virginia Repertory Theatre, visited schools, 

and continued to meet with lawmakers until she died on April 

23, 2014, at age 73, from complications with leukemia. 

(10) The work of Mrs. Galanti earned her the American 

Legion Service Medal, and the Paul and Phyllis Galanti Education Center at the Virginia War Memorial was named in 

honor of her and her husband. 

(11) The leadership at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA 

Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, including Director John 

Brandecker, seeks to recognize Mrs. Galanti by naming the 

arboretum at Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in 

her honor. 

(12) It is a fitting tribute that Congress name the arboretum after such an outstanding advocate for members of the 

Armed Forces of the United States and veterans. 

SEC. 2. PHYLLIS E. GALANTI ARBORETUM AT HUNTER HOLMES 

MCGUIRE VA MEDICAL CENTER IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 

(a) DESIGNATION.—The arboretum at the Hunter Holmes 

McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, shall after 

the date of the enactment of this Act be known and designated 

as the ‘‘Phyllis E. Galanti Arboretum’’. 

(b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, regulation, map, 

document, paper, or other record of the United States to the arboretum referred to in subsection (a) shall be considered to be a 

reference to the Phyllis E. Galanti Arboretum. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.