V 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1190 

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

Philip J. Conran of the Air Force for acts of valor in Laos during 

the Vietnam War. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 18, 2021 

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 retired Colonel Philip J. Conran of the 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 RETIRED COLONEL PHILIP J. 

5 CONRAN FOR ACTS OF VALOR IN LAOS DUR6 ING THE VIETNAM WAR. 

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

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

9 Force, Philip J. Conran demonstrated extraordinary 


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1 heroism in military operations against an opposing 

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

3 helicopter of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 

4 56th Special Operations Wing, Nakhon Phanom 

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

6 October 6, 1969. 

7 (2) The military referred to Laos as ‘‘a classi8 fied location in Southeast Asia’’ until decades after 

9 the Vietnam War ended when the role of the United 

10 States in Laos was declassified. 

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

12 downed helicopter, Major Conran’s aircraft was hit 

13 by intense hostile ground fire, yet despite the hostile 

14 ground fire, Major Conran continued the rescue op15 eration and landed in the vicinity of the downed 

16 crewmen. 

17 (4) Once on the ground, he successfully evacu18 ated his aircraft and assumed a major role in de19 fending the crash site against an overwhelming hos20 tile force until rescue was possible six hours later. 

21 (5) Major Conran repeatedly exposed himself to 

22 heavy barrages of enemy automatic weapons fire to 

23 extract essential equipment from the downed heli24 copters. 


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

2 while exposed to enemy fire and trying to strengthen 

3 their position, Major Conran continued to encourage 

4 the others and did not mention his wound until he 

5 had lost all feeling in his leg. 

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

7 of his downed comrades, his heroic actions above 

8 and beyond the call of duty while under severe hos9 tile fire, and his positive attitude throughout the or10 deal were instrumental in enabling the two heli11 copter crews and 44 friendly troops to withstand su12 perior odds until a rescue could be made. 

13 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding the time lim14 itations specified in section 9274 of title 10, United States 

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

16 awarding of certain medals to persons who served in the 

17 Armed Forces, the President is authorized to award the 

18 Medal of Honor under section 9271 of such title to retired 

19 Colonel Philip J. Conran Air Force for the acts of valor 

20 in Laos described in subsection (a). 

Æ 


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