To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to retired Colonel Philip J. Conran of the Air Force for acts of valor in Laos during the Vietnam War.

V 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1190 To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to retired Colonel Philip J. Conran of the Air Force for acts of valor in Laos during the Vietnam War. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 18, 2021 Mr. CARBAJAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to retired Colonel Philip J. Conran of the Air Force for acts of valor in Laos during the Vietnam War. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. AUTHORITY FOR AWARD OF THE MEDAL OF 3 HONOR TO RETIRED COLONEL PHILIP J. 4 CONRAN FOR ACTS OF VALOR IN LAOS DUR- 5 ING THE VIETNAM WAR. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 (1) While a Major in the United States Air 8 Force, Philip J. Conran demonstrated extraordinary 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Feb 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1190.IH H1190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1190 IH heroism in military operations against an opposing 1 armed force as Aircraft Commander of a CH–3E 2 helicopter of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 3 56th Special Operations Wing, Nakhon Phanom 4 Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, in action in Laos on 5 October 6, 1969. 6 (2) The military referred to Laos as ‘‘a classi- 7 fied location in Southeast Asia’’ until decades after 8 the Vietnam War ended when the role of the United 9 States in Laos was declassified. 10 (3) While attempting to rescue the crew of a 11 downed helicopter, Major Conran’s aircraft was hit 12 by intense hostile ground fire, yet despite the hostile 13 ground fire, Major Conran continued the rescue op- 14 eration and landed in the vicinity of the downed 15 crewmen. 16 (4) Once on the ground, he successfully evacu- 17 ated his aircraft and assumed a major role in de- 18 fending the crash site against an overwhelming hos- 19 tile force until rescue was possible six hours later. 20 (5) Major Conran repeatedly exposed himself to 21 heavy barrages of enemy automatic weapons fire to 22 extract essential equipment from the downed heli- 23 copters. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Feb 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1190.IH H1190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1190 IH (6) In spite of receiving a severe leg wound 1 while exposed to enemy fire and trying to strengthen 2 their position, Major Conran continued to encourage 3 the others and did not mention his wound until he 4 had lost all feeling in his leg. 5 (7) Major Conran’s decision to come to the aid 6 of his downed comrades, his heroic actions above 7 and beyond the call of duty while under severe hos- 8 tile fire, and his positive attitude throughout the or- 9 deal were instrumental in enabling the two heli- 10 copter crews and 44 friendly troops to withstand su- 11 perior odds until a rescue could be made. 12 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding the time lim- 13 itations specified in section 9274 of title 10, United States 14 Code, or any other time limitation with respect to the 15 awarding of certain medals to persons who served in the 16 Armed Forces, the President is authorized to award the 17 Medal of Honor under section 9271 of such title to retired 18 Colonel Philip J. Conran Air Force for the acts of valor 19 in Laos described in subsection (a). 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:17 Feb 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1190.IH H1190 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS