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HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 8
IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA
THIRTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION
BY REPRESENTATIVE NELSON
Introduced: 2/3/25
Referred: House Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs
A RESOLUTION
Encouraging the United States Congress to award the Hmong veterans of the Vietnam 1
War the Congressional Gold Medal. 2
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 3
WHEREAS, beginning in 1960, the United States Central Intelligence Agency 4
recruited thousands of Hmong people to fight against the Communist Pathet Lao and North 5
Vietnamese Army regulars in Laos; and 6
WHEREAS, in July 1961, Brigadier General Edward G. Lansdale wrote in a memo to 7
General Maxwell D. Taylor that about 9,000 Hmong tribesmen had been equipped for guerilla 8
operations and these operations were being conducted with considerable effectiveness in 9
Communist-dominated territory in Laos; and 10
WHEREAS as many as 100,000 Hmong soldiers were recruited and trained as 11
Special Guerrilla Units to engage the North Vietnamese Army; and 12
WHEREAS the United States relied heavily on the Hmong Special Guerrilla Units, 13
although outnumbered by enemy forces, to intercept and prevent the flow of troops and war 14
supplies along the Ho Chi Minh Trail; and 15
WHEREAS the Hmong soldiers conducted tactical guerrilla actions, flew thousands 16 34-LS0482\N
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of deadly combat missions in support of the United States Armed Forces and the United 1
States Central Intelligence Agency, and fought in conventional and guerilla combat with an 2
extremely high number of casualties; and 3
WHEREAS the Hmong soldiers protected United States personnel, guarded United 4
States Air Force radar installations, gathered critical intelligence about enemy operations, and 5
undertook rescue missions to save the lives of downed United States pilots; and 6
WHEREAS approximately 40,000 Hmong soldiers lost their lives defending 7
democracy, approximately 50,000 Hmong soldiers were seriously injured and disabled, and 8
approximately 3,000 Hmong soldiers were missing in action; and 9
WHEREAS Hmong soldiers died at 10 times the rate of United States soldiers in the 10
Vietnam War; and 11
WHEREAS, because the war effort of the United States in Laos was covert, the 12
accounts of the sacrifices and service of the Hmong soldiers remain largely unknown; and 13
WHEREAS many Hmong soldiers became refugees because the United States 14
government encouraged them to fight for the United States, and, as a result, thousands of 15
family members of Hmong soldiers were evacuated to a United States air base in Thailand to 16
avoid bloody vengeance by the communists in Laos and Vietnam; and 17
WHEREAS, after the conclusion of the Vietnam War, thousands of Hmong soldiers 18
suffered acts of retribution and atrocities by the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese Army, 19
causing hundreds of thousands of Hmong refugees to flee to neighboring Thailand; and 20
WHEREAS approximately 50,000 Hmong veterans reside in the United States, and 21
approximately 150,000 Hmong and Laotian-born children have graduated from schools in this 22
country; and 23
WHEREAS the Hmong warriors were promised that they would be treated just like 24
other United States veterans; 25
BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature encourages the United States 26
Congress to award the Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War the Congressional Gold Medal. 27
COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Donald J. Trump, President 28
of the United States; the Honorable JD Vance, Vice President of
the United States and 29
President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of the U.S. House of 30
Representatives; the Honorable John Thune, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the 31 34-LS0482\N
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Honorable Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; the 1
Honorable Charles Schumer, Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Todd B. 2
Hunter, Acting United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski 3
and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Nicholas Begich, U.S. 4
Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and all other members of the 5
119th United States Congress. 6