H.R. 5939 authorizes Congress to award a single Congressional Gold Medal to honor the Marine helicopter aircrews and Navy Corpsmen who served in medical evacuation and support missions during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1975. The bill recognizes their contributions in transporting over 3.2 million troops, conducting more than 1.6 million sorties, and medically evacuating approximately 189,000 patients while facing significant combat risks, with 26 medevac Corpsmen and 845 total helicopter crew members and passengers killed during the war. The Secretary of the Treasury will design and strike the gold medal, which will be permanently housed at the National Museum of the United States Navy for display and research, though Congress encourages the museum to loan it to Vietnam War-related locations. The bill authorizes production of duplicate bronze medals for sale to the public, with proceeds deposited back into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund to offset costs, and does not require a specific appropriation.
Take Action
Your position
Add a comment
to comment on this bill.
Annotate the text
Highlight any passage on the Summary or Full Text tab to attach a note. Annotations appear on the Annotations tab.