(2) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha, a recipient of the 
Medal of Honor and an advocate for veterans, is an 
American hero. 
(3) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha, the son of a colonel 
in the Army, spent his childhood in California, Ger-
many, Indiana, Japan, and St. Louis, Missouri. 
(4) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha turned down several 
scholarships for both academics and athletics and in-
stead enrolled in the United States Military Acad-
emy at West Point, New York. He went on to be a 
two-time All-American and captain of the West 
Point swim team. In 1965, he graduated in the top 
5 percent of his class and number two in Military 
Order of Merit. 
(5) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha earned a Masters of 
Business Administration from Stanford University 
in 1967, all while completing Airborne and Ranger 
training between academic years. 
(6) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha reported for duty 
with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, 
Kentucky, to prepare for deployment to Vietnam as 
part of Operation Eagle Thrust in November 1967. 
(7) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha was appointed com-
mander of Company D, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infan-
try Regiment. His company was the last rifle com-
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pany to be formed during an Army expansion. He 
jokingly recalled that his recruits were men who had 
flunked basic infantry tasks, former prisoners, and 
‘‘guys with master’s degrees in Elizabethan lit-
erature’’. He took pride in his company, dubbed the 
‘‘clerks and jerks’’. They went on to become one of 
the most decorated units by the end of the war. 
(8) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha distinguished him-
self with extraordinary heroism while leading 89 
men on a reconnaissance mission near Phuoc Vinh, 
Vietnam, from March 16th through 18th, 1968. As 
part of the Tet Offensive, his unit was dropped by 
helicopter and his men set out to repel attacks by 
North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. As the sun 
set on March 18, 1968, he and his men advanced 
into a dense jungle and found themselves outgunned 
by approximately 1,500 enemy troops. Under attack, 
he crawled 40 yards through the hail of fire and sin-
glehandedly destroyed a machine-gun bunker with 
grenades, all while sustaining a shrapnel wound. He 
then orchestrated an overnight offensive, directing 
his men to spread out, throw grenades, and unleash 
heavy fire. He made the enemy believe they were a 
much larger force. His leadership led to the defeat 
of a superior Vietnamese stronghold, leaving 156 
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enemy dead. Come morning, he guided the medical 
evacuation of three air-ambulance loads of seriously 
wounded personnel. 
(9) President Richard Nixon presented the 
Medal of Honor to Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha in a cere-
mony at the White House in 1970. 
(10) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha originally wanted 
to turn down the Medal of Honor because he did not 
feel deserving. In Vietnam, he asked his men to 
trust him and, in turn, promised to bring them 
home safe. 10 of his men were killed on the night 
of March 18, 1968. Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha ulti-
mately accepted the Medal of Honor in their mem-
ory, saying it belongs to his men. 
(11) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha resigned his Army 
commission in 1972. 
(12) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha was an active mem-
ber of several veterans service organizations (com-
monly referred to as ‘‘VSOs’’), including the Amer-
ican Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled 
American Veterans, and the Vietnam Veterans of 
America. He generously served on the board of di-
rectors of Homes for Our Troops, a VSO that builds 
specially adapted custom homes for severely injured 
veterans. He also served as Chairman of the Advi-
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sory Committee on Veterans Employment and 
Training Services at the Department of Labor. 
(13) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha used his voice for 
veterans struggling with mental health. He believed 
that all veterans, whether they have ‘‘4 stars or no 
stripes, man or woman’’, would be touched by post- 
traumatic stress. He used the term ‘‘post-traumatic 
stress’’ to acknowledge the impact of combat experi-
ences on the mental health of veterans and he inten-
tionally left out the word ‘‘disorder’’ to help 
destigmatize their struggle. 
(14) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha battled post-trau-
matic stress on his own for 42 years before coura-
geously seeking help at the medical center of the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs in West Haven, Con-
necticut. In the final years of his life, Paul W. 
‘‘Bud’’ Bucha also received neurological care at that 
medical center. His family expressed deep gratitude 
for the compassionate and skilled care he received, 
especially recognizing the leadership of Dr. Huned 
Patwa, Chief of Staff, and Dr. Becky Rhoads, Exec-
utive Director. His family also commended the dedi-
cated neurologists, psychiatrists, and oncologists who 
supported him as his health declined. 
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(15) Paul W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha spent the last two 
weeks of his life at the medical center of the Depart-
ment in West Haven, Connecticut, and passed away 
from complications of Alzheimer’s disease on July 
31, 2024. In his final act of courage and service, he 
donated his brain to the Center for Human Brain 
Discovery at Yale University. 
SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF CAPTAIN PAUL W. ‘‘BUD’’ BUCHA 
VA MEDICAL CENTER. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The medical center of the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs in West Haven, Connecticut, or 
any successor location for such medical center, shall after 
the date of the enactment of this Act be known and des-
ignated as the ‘‘Captain Paul W. ‘Bud’ Bucha Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs Medical Center’’ or the ‘‘Captain 
Paul W. ‘Bud’ Bucha VA Medical Center’’. 
(b) REFERENCE.—Any reference in any law, regula-
tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 
States to the medical center referred to in subsection (a) 
shall be considered to be a reference to the Captain Paul 
W. ‘‘Bud’’ Bucha VA Medical Center. 
Æ 
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