107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 406
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 conven-
tional forces, including ethnic lowland Lao and highland
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Laotians composed of Hmong, Khmu, Mien, Yao, Lahu,
and other diverse tribal and nontribal ethnic groups,
from 1960 through 1975 to combat the North Viet-
namese 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 in-
tended 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 In-
telligence 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
decorated group mobile units, served in daring and coura-
geous heliborne and airborne combat operations in sup-
port 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;
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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 suf-
fered for years in horrific conditions as political refugees
in refugee camps in neighboring Thailand;
Whereas the United States is now the home to significant
communities 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 non-
profit 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 chap-
ters throughout the United States that have sought to
serve their communities and educate the public about the
historic contribution 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 citi-
zenship to elderly Laotian and Hmong veterans, as well
as their spouses or widows;
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Whereas in 1995, a historic Lao Veterans of America cere-
mony was held at the airbase and headquarters of the
144th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard in Fres-
no, California, along with a memorial service and over-
flights 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, Virginia, by Members of
the Congress and representatives of the United States in-
telligence, 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 Amer-
ican 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 commemora-
tive service was held: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), 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 families of these Laotian
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and Hmong veterans, for their historic contributions to
the United States.
Passed the House of Representatives October 10,
2002.
Attest:
Clerk.