H. Con. Res. 406
Agreed to October 17, 2002
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two
Concurrent Resolution
Whereas one of the largest clandestine operations in United States
military history was conducted in Laos during the Vietnam War;
Whereas the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States
Armed Forces recruited, organized, trained, and assisted Laotian
and Hmong guerrilla units and conventional forces, including
ethnic lowland Lao and highland Laotians composed of Hmong,
Khmu, Mien, Yao, Lahu, and other diverse tribal and nontribal
ethnic groups, from 1960 through 1975 to combat the North
Vietnamese Army and Communist Pathet Lao forces;
Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces who served in the
United States sponsored ‘‘Secret Army’’ courageously saved
numerous American pilots and aircrews who were shot down
over Laos or North Vietnam and interdicted and helped to destroy
many enemy units and convoys intended to engage United States
military forces in combat;
Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces served in key roles
with air force elements of the United States Air Force, United
States Navy carrier-based air units, United States Army heliborne
units, and the Central Intelligence Agency’s ‘‘Air America’’ in
distinguished roles such as T–28 fighter pilots, ‘‘Raven’’ spotter
co-pilots, Forward Air Guides, and mobile group rescue and com-
bat reconnaissance units;
Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces, including highly deco-
rated group mobile units, served in daring and courageous
heliborne and airborne combat operations in support of joint
United States and Royal Lao Army military operations in Laos
and Vietnam, including interdiction of enemy troop movements
and supply convoys using the Ho Chi Minh Trail;
Whereas Laotian and Hmong special forces guarded one of the
most highly sensitive United States intelligence and electronic
targeting sites in all of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War,
LIMA Site 85, which permitted the United States Air Force
and Navy to conduct the all-weather and night bombing of enemy
targets in North Vietnam;
Whereas tens of thousands of members of the Laotian and Hmong
special forces and their families were trapped in Laos when
the Communists took over, and many of these persons were
brutally persecuted, imprisoned, or killed because of their role
in defending Laos and assisting the United States as allies;
Whereas many of those members of the Laotian and Hmong special
forces and their families who avoided capture suffered for years
H. Con. Res. 406—2
in horrific conditions as political refugees in refugee camps in
neighboring Thailand;
Whereas the United States is now the home to significant commu-
nities of the Laotian and Hmong veterans and their families
after providing them with political asylum, refugee status, and
citizenship because of their unique contribution to United States
national security interests during the Vietnam War;
Whereas the Lao Veterans of America was founded as a nonprofit
veterans organization in 1990 to honor and assist Laotian and
Hmong veterans who served with or assisted the United States
Armed Forces during the Vietnam War;
Whereas the Lao Veterans of America has established chapters
throughout the United States that have sought to serve their
communities and educate the public about the historic contribu-
tion of the Lao and Hmong veterans during the Vietnam War;
Whereas the Lao Veterans of America spearheaded and led national
efforts in the Congress to seek to provide citizenship to elderly
Laotian and Hmong veterans, as well as their spouses or widows;
Whereas in 1995, a historic Lao Veterans of America ceremony
was held at the airbase and headquarters of the 144th Fighter
Wing of the Air National Guard in Fresno, California, along
with a memorial service and overflights of T–28 fighter aircraft
to honor the Laotian and Hmong veterans, their American
advisers, and the Lao Veterans of America and other veterans
organizations;
Whereas in 1997, long overdue national recognition and honor
was finally bestowed upon the Lao Veterans of America and
thousands of Laotian and Hmong veterans and their American
advisers at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the District of
Columbia and at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Vir-
ginia, by Members of the Congress and representatives of the
United States intelligence, military, and diplomatic communities;
Whereas in 1997, a monument was dedicated at Arlington National
Cemetery by the Lao Veterans of America to honor the Laotian
and Hmong veterans and their American advisers who served
during the Vietnam War; and
Whereas in 2000, thousands of additional Lao and Hmong veterans
were again honored, after a veterans memorial service and parade
lead by the Lao Veterans of America that progressed from the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, past the White House, and down
Pennsylvania Avenue to the United States Capitol, where a
national commemorative service was held: Now, therefore, be
it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concur-
ring), That Congress honors and commends the Lao Veterans of
America, Laotian and Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War who
served with or assisted the United States Armed Forces, and the
H. Con. Res. 406—3
families of these Laotian and Hmong veterans, for their historic
contributions to the United States.
Attest:
JEFF TRANDAHL,
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
By
Deputy Clerk.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.