IIB 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4955 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
DECEMBER 17 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
AN ACT 
To name the community-based outpatient clinic of the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs in Monroeville, Pennsyl-
vania, as the ‘‘Henry Parham VA Clinic’’. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Henry Parham was born in Emporia, Vir-
ginia, in November 1921. 
(2) At age 21, Henry Parham was drafted into 
the Army and shipped out to England in 1943 with 
the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion in preparation 
for the D-Day invasions. 
(3) The 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, a 
segregated Army unit, consisted of approximately 
700 African-American soldiers with the mission of 
hoisting barrage balloons designed to entangle in-
coming German planes and prevent them from con-
ducting strafing runs on ground troops. 
(4) On June 6, 1944, Private First Class 
Henry Parham and his section of the 320th Barrage 
Balloon Battalion landed at Omaha Beach. With the 
threat of enemy sniper and rifle fire ever present, 
PFC Parham’s unit performed their duties, hoisting 
their barrage balloons 2,000 feet into the air over 
the beachhead in Normandy. 
(5) For two months, Private First Class Henry 
Parham and the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion 
stood watch at Omaha Beach, keeping the pipeline 
of incoming supplies and Allied troops secure before 
returning to the United States in September 1944. 
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(6) After his service, Henry Parham moved to 
Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, where he lived and 
worked as a heavy equipment operator until 1986. 
There, he met and married his wife, Ethel Parham, 
to whom he was married for more than 45 years. 
(7) Henry Parham died on July 4, 2021, in 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the age of 99. He was 
survived by his wife, Ethel, both of whom served for 
decades as volunteers at the medical center of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs in Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania, and local chapters of veterans service 
organizations. 
(8) Henry Parham was the last surviving Afri-
can-American combat veteran who took part in the 
D-Day landings on June 6, 1944. 
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF HENRY PARHAM DEPARTMENT OF 
VETERANS AFFAIRS CLINIC. 
(a) DESIGNATION.—The community-based outpatient 
clinic of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Monroe-
ville, Pennsylvania, shall after the date of the enactment 
of this Act be known and designated as the ‘‘Henry 
Parham Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic’’ or the 
‘‘Henry Parham VA Clinic’’. 
(b) REFERENCE.—Any reference in any law, regula-
tion, map, document, paper, or other record of the United 
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States to the community-based outpatient clinic referred 
to in subsection (a) shall be considered to be a reference 
to the Henry Parham VA Clinic. 
Passed the House of Representatives December 16, 
2024. 
Attest: 
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 
Clerk. 
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