I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2693 
To designate the arboretum at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical 
Center in Richmond, Virginia, as the ‘‘Phyllis E. Galanti Arboretum’’. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 9, 2015 
Mr. BRAT (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. RIGELL, 
Mr. FORBES, Mr. HURT of Virginia, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. BEYER, Mr. 
GRIFFITH, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Mr. SAM JOHNSON of 
Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To designate the arboretum at the Hunter Holmes McGuire 
VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, as the ‘‘Phyl-
lis E. Galanti Arboretum’’. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Phyllis Eason Galanti, a tireless advocate 
for the rights of prisoners of war from the United 
States during the Vietnam War and a beloved mem-
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ber of the Richmond, Virginia, community, died on 
April 23, 2014. 
(2) Ms. Eason graduated from the College of 
William and Mary in 1963 and shortly afterward 
was married to Paul Edward Galanti, a pilot with 
the United States Navy, at the Chapel of the Centu-
rion in Fort Monroe, Virginia. 
(3) In June 1966, when Mr. Galanti was shot 
down over North Vietnam, captured, and held pris-
oner, Phyllis E. Galanti became active in the Na-
tional League of Families of American Prisoners 
and Missing in Southeast Asia, soon becoming chair 
of the organization. 
(4) Mrs. Galanti spearheaded the Let’s Bring 
Paul Galanti Home project as part of the national 
Write Hanoi campaign— 
(A) to raise awareness; 
(B) to secure the return of more than 600 
soldiers from the United States who were miss-
ing in action or held as prisoners of war in 
Vietnam; and 
(C) to ensure that prisoners of war were 
treated in accordance with the Geneva Conven-
tions. 
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(5) The efforts of Mrs. Galanti under the Let’s 
Bring Paul Galanti Home project, the most success-
ful of many such campaigns, resulted in more than 
1,000,000 letters that were personally delivered to 
the North Vietnamese embassy in Stockholm, Swe-
den, in 1971. 
(6) Mrs. Galanti became known as ‘‘Fearless 
Phyllis’’, traveling to Versailles, France, seeking an 
audience with North Vietnamese leaders, and giving 
hundreds of presentations to policy leaders in the 
United States, including President Richard Nixon, 
National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, and Vir-
ginia Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr., who said of her 
in 1975, ‘‘One dedicated woman and a handful of 
others had more influence on the communist world 
than legions of armies and diplomats.’’. 
(7) After more than seven years apart, Mrs. 
Galanti was reunited with her husband Paul Galanti 
at the Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Virginia, on 
February 15, 1973. 
(8) Mrs. Galanti spent decades confronting the 
issue of prisoners and hostages from the United 
States, not only in Vietnam but also in the Soviet 
Union and Iran. 
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(9) Mrs. Galanti actively supported the Virginia 
Home, Theatre IV, and the Virginia Repertory The-
atre, visited schools, and continued to meet with law-
makers until she died on April 23, 2014, at age 73, 
from complications with leukemia. 
(10) The work of Mrs. Galanti earned her the 
American Legion Service Medal, and the Paul and 
Phyllis Galanti Education Center at the Virginia 
War Memorial was named in honor of her and her 
husband. 
(11) The leadership at the Hunter Holmes 
McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia, 
including Director John Brandecker, seeks to recog-
nize Mrs. Galanti by naming the arboretum at Hun-
ter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in her 
honor. 
(12) It is a fitting tribute that Congress name 
the arboretum after such an outstanding advocate 
for members of the Armed Forces of the United 
States and veterans. 
SEC. 2. PHYLLIS E. GALANTI ARBORETUM AT HUNTER 
HOLMES MCGUIRE VA MEDICAL CENTER IN 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
(a) DESIGNATION.—The arboretum at the Hunter 
Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Vir-
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