IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 609 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2017 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs health care 

center in Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, 

as the ‘‘Abie Abraham VA Clinic’’. 

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


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HR 609 RFS

1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Abie Abraham of Lyndora, Pennsylvania, 

4 was stationed during World War II with the 18th 

5 Infantry in New York; 3 years with the 14th Infan6 try in Panama; 15th Infantry, unassigned in China, 

7 while the U.S.S. Panay was sunk; 30th Infantry, 

8 Presidio, San Francisco; and the 31st Infantry, Ma9 nila, Philippines, for 9 years. 

10 (2) During World War II, Abraham fought, was 

11 captured, endured the Bataan Death March and as 

a prisoner of war for 31 12 ⁄2 years, was beaten, stabbed, 

13 shot, survived malaria and starvation to be rescued 

14 by the 6th Rangers. 

15 (3) Abraham stayed behind at the request of 

General Douglas MacArthur for 21 16 ⁄2 more years 

17 disinterring the bodies of his fallen comrades from 

18 the Bataan Death March and the prison camps, 

19 helping to identify their bodies and see that they 

20 were properly laid to rest. 

21 (4) After his promotion in 1945, Abraham 

22 came back to the United States where he served as 

23 a recruiter and then also served 2 years in Germany 

24 until his retirement with 30 years of service as a 

25 Master Sergeant. 


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HR 609 RFS

1 (5) Abraham received numerous medals for his 

2 service, including the Purple Heart, and had several 

3 documentaries on the Discovery Channel and His4 tory Channel. 

5 (6) Abraham wrote the books ‘‘Ghost of Bataan 

6 Speaks’’ in 1971 and ‘‘Oh, God, Where Are You’’ in 

7 1977 to help the public better understand what our 

8 brave men endured at the hands of the Imperial 

9 Japanese Army as prisoners of war. 

10 (7) Abraham was a life member of the Veterans 

11 of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Purple 

12 Heart Combat/Infantry Organization, the American 

13 Ex-POWs, the Disabled American Veterans, and the 

14 American Defenders of Bataan. 

15 (8) Abraham was a volunteer at Veterans Af16 fairs Butler Healthcare for 23 years from 1988 to 

17 2011 and had 36,851 service hours caring for our 

18 veterans. 

19 SEC. 2. ABIE ABRAHAM VA CLINIC. 

20 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Department of Veterans Af21 fairs health care center in Center Township, Butler Coun22 ty, Pennsylvania, shall after the date of the enactment of 

23 this Act be known and designated as the ‘‘Abie Abraham 

24 VA Clinic’’. 


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HR 609 RFS

1 (b) REFERENCES.—Any reference in any law, regula2 tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 

3 States to the health care center referred to in subsection 

4 (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the ‘‘Abie Abra5 ham VA Clinic’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 13, 

2017. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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