2019 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 68
BY SENATOR MILLS
A RESOLUTION
To honor the memory of Specialist Fourth Class Larry Joseph Lancon, a Louisiana native
killed in action in the Republic of Vietnam and in whose honor the medical troop
clinic at Fort Polk, Louisiana, will be renamed.
WHEREAS, the community hospital at Fort Polk will be named the "Lancon Soldier
Centered Medical Home" at a special memorialization ceremony on April 26, 2019; and
WHEREAS, the renaming is in honor of Specialist Fourth Class Larry Joseph
Lancon, Headquarters Company, First Battalion, Eighth Cavalry Regiment, First Cavalry
Division who died in combat in the Republic of Vietnam on April 24, 1970, at the age of
nineteen; and
WHEREAS, SP4 Lancon was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for
extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an
armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam in 1970; and
WHEREAS, Larry Lancon, a medic, distinguished himself during combat operations
in Phuoc Long Province as he was accompanying a friendly force up a steep, densely
vegetated hill when the lead element came under intense volley of fire from a
well-entrenched enemy force; and
WHEREAS, while under enemy fire, SP4 Lancon skillfully applied first aid to a
soldier's wounds and assisted him to a rear position; and
WHEREAS, SP4 Lancon then returned to the forward area of contact to treat
additional comrades who had been seriously wounded, and despite being seriously wounded
himself by enemy fire as he treated the casualties, SP4 Lancon continued to treat his
comrades and assist them to safety until he collapsed; and
WHEREAS, Larry Lancon died of the wounds he suffered that day, April 24, 1970;
and
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WHEREAS, the heroic deeds that day in 1970 by Larry Lancon became the ultimate
sacrifice; he gave his life that his comrades might live, and it is because of this courageous
sacrifice and similar sacrifices throughout American history that the freedoms that
Americans enjoy every day are ensured; and
WHEREAS, Larry Lancon grew up in New Iberia, Louisiana, where his father,
Stanley Lancon Sr., was on the New Iberia police force in the 1960s and 1970s, and SP4
Lancon graduated from New Iberia Senior High School before entering military service; and
WHEREAS, it is completely fitting that a medical facility on a United States Army
post be named for a fallen hero and this will be the second facility at Fort Polk that is named
for a fallen soldier; and
WHEREAS, how a country commemorates its heroes, especially those who are killed
in action, says a great deal about the collective values of that country, and to honor a heroic
medic who died because he was saving the lives of others by naming a medical facility in
his honor bespeaks a country that honors those who have sacrificed for the defense of the
many freedoms that citizens enjoy; that is the legacy of SP4 Larry Lancon and his sacrifice
will be forever noted by the medical facility that bears his name.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby honor the memory of Specialist Fourth Class Larry Joseph Lancon,
Headquarters Company, First Battalion, Eighth Cavalry Regiment, First Cavalry Division
in acknowledging the renaming of the Lancon Soldier Centered Medical Home at Fort Polk,
Louisiana, in his honor.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Mr. Robbie LeBlanc, high school classmate and friend of Larry Joseph Lancon.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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