I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2370 
To direct the Secretary of Defense to issue a medal to certain veterans 
who died after their service in the Vietnam War as a direct result 
of that service, or who were presumptively exposed to ionizing radiation, 
herbicide agents, or chemical agents during their service in the Armed 
Forces. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 16, 2005 
Mr. FILNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Defense to issue a medal to 
certain veterans who died after their service in the Viet-
nam War as a direct result of that service, or who 
were presumptively exposed to ionizing radiation, herbi-
cide agents, or chemical agents during their service in 
the Armed Forces. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘In Memory Medal For 
Forgotten Veterans Act’’.
SEC. 2. MEDAL TO HONOR VETERANS WHO DIED AS A RE-
SULT OF THEIR SERVICE IN THE VIETNAM 
WAR OR WHO WERE PRESUMPTIVELY EX-
POSED TO IONIZING RADIATION, HERBICIDE 
AGENTS, OR CHEMICAL AGENTS. 
(a) MEDAL AUTHORIZED.—There is established a 
medal, to be known as the ‘‘Jesus (Chuchi) Salgado 
Medal’’, to be issued by the Secretary of Defense to any 
of the following: 
(1) VETERANS
WHO
DIED
AS
A
RESULT
OF 
THEIR SERVICE IN THE VIETNAM WAR.—A veteran 
of the Vietnam War who died after serving in the 
war, but whose death is determined by the Secretary 
of Defense to be a direct result of that service, and 
whose name is not eligible for placement on the Viet-
nam Veterans Memorial authorized under Public 
Law 96–297 (16 U.S.C. 431 note). 
(2) VETERANS
EXPOSED
TO
IONIZING
RADI-
ATION.—A radiation-exposed veteran who is eligible 
(or was at the time of death eligible) to receive bene-
fits from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under 
section 1710(e)(1)(B) of title 38, United States 
Code, attributable to the presumption of service-con-
nection under section 1112(c)(1) of that title. 
(3) 
VETERANS
EXPOSED
TO
HERBICIDE 
AGENTS.—A veteran of service in the Republic of
Vietnam who is eligible (or was at the time of death 
eligible) to receive benefits from the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs under section 1710(e)(1)(A) of title 
38, United States Code, attributable to the presump-
tion of service-connection under section 1116(f) of 
that title. 
(4) VETERANS
EXPOSED
TO
CERTAIN
CHEM-
ICAL AGENTS.—A veteran who served on active duty 
in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during 
the Persian Gulf War who is entitled (or was at the 
time of death entitled) to receive compensation from 
the United States under section 1110 of title 38, at-
tributable to the presumption of service-connection 
under section 1118(a) of that title. 
(b) APPLICATION AND DESIGN.—The Jesus (Chuchi) 
Salgado Medal shall be issued upon receipt by the Sec-
retary of Defense of an application for such medal, sub-
mitted in accordance with such regulations as the Sec-
retary prescribes. The medal shall be of an appropriate 
design approved by the Secretary. 
(c) 
ISSUANCE
TO
REPRESENTATIVE
OF
DE-
CEASED.—If a person described in subsection (a) dies be-
fore being issued the Jesus (Chuchi) Salgado Medal, the 
medal shall be issued to the next-of-kin or representative 
of such person, as designated by the Secretary of Defense.
(d) ASSISTANCE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF VET-
ERANS AFFAIRS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
make available to the Secretary of Defense such records, 
and otherwise provide such assistance, as the Secretary 
of Defense may require for purposes of this section. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) RADIATION-EXPOSED VETERAN.—The term 
‘‘radiation-exposed veteran’’ has the meaning given 
to that term in section 1112(c)(3)(A) of title 38, 
United States Code. 
(2) VETERAN OF SERVICE IN THE REPUBLIC OF 
VIETNAM.—The term ‘‘veteran of service in the Re-
public of Vietnam’’ means a veteran who served on 
active duty in the Republic of Vietnam during the 
period beginning on February 28, 1961, and ending 
on May 7, 1975. 
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