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

V 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2330 To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to Colonel Philip J. Conran of the United States Air Force for acts of valor in Laos during the Vietnam War. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 15, 2019 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 Colonel Philip J. Conran of the United States 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 COLONEL PHILIP J. CONRAN FOR 4 ACTS OF VALOR IN LAOS DURING THE VIET- 5 NAM WAR. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2330.IH H2330 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2330 IH (1) While a Major in the United States Air 1 Force, Philip J. Conran demonstrated extraordinary 2 heroism in military operations against an opposing 3 armed force as Aircraft Commander of a CH–3E 4 helicopter of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, 5 56th Special Operations Wing, Nakhon Phanom 6 Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, in action in Laos on 7 October 6, 1969. 8 (2) The military referred to Laos as ‘‘a classi- 9 fied location in Southeast Asia’’ until decades after 10 the Vietnam War ended when the role of the United 11 States in Laos was declassified. 12 (3) While attempting to rescue the crew of a 13 downed helicopter, Major Conran’s aircraft was hit 14 by intense hostile ground fire, yet despite the hostile 15 ground fire, Major Conran continued the rescue op- 16 eration and landed in the vicinity of the downed 17 crewmen. 18 (4) Once on the ground, he successfully evacu- 19 ated his aircraft and assumed a major role in de- 20 fending the crash site against an overwhelming hos- 21 tile force until rescue was possible six hours later. 22 (5) Major Conran repeatedly exposed himself to 23 heavy barrages of enemy automatic weapons fire to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2330.IH H2330 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2330 IH extract essential equipment from the downed heli- 1 copters. 2 (6) In spite of receiving a severe leg wound 3 while exposed to enemy fire and trying to strengthen 4 their position, Major Conran continued to encourage 5 the others and did not mention his wound until he 6 had lost all feeling in his leg. 7 (7) Major Conran’s decision to come to the aid 8 of his downed comrades, his heroic actions above 9 and beyond the call of duty while under severe hos- 10 tile fire, and his positive attitude throughout the or- 11 deal were instrumental in enabling the two heli- 12 copter crews and 44 friendly troops to withstand su- 13 perior odds until a rescue could be made. 14 (b) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding the time lim- 15 itations specified in section 9274 of title 10, United States 16 Code, or any other time limitation with respect to the 17 awarding of certain medals to persons who served in the 18 Armed Forces, the President is authorized to award the 19 Medal of Honor under section 9271 of such title to retired 20 United States Air Force Colonel Philip J. Conran for the 21 acts of valor in Laos described in subsection (a). 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Apr 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2330.IH H2330 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS