USMC Helicopter Support in Vietnam Congressional Gold Medal Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 5939 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5939 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to United States Marines who served as part of helicopter support missions in the Vietnam War. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 7, 2025 Mr. Davis of North Carolina (for himself and Mr. Murphy) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To award a Congressional Gold Medal to United States Marines who served as part of helicopter support missions in the Vietnam War. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``USMC Helicopter Support in Vietnam Congressional Gold Medal Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS. (a) By the end of the war in Vietnam in 1975, there had been approximately 391,000 U.S. Marines and 10,000 Navy Corpsmen who had served in Vietnam. Out of all of these men it is estimated that roughly 90 percent of them served in either the First or Third Marine Division, while the remaining 10 percent served in the First Marine Air Wing (1st MAW). (b) The 1st MAW itself consisted of both fixed-wing and helicopter (rotary) Marine Air Groups (MAG), and over 60 percent of the Marines and Corpsmen who served in the 1st MAW were assigned to the MAG. (c) During Vietnam's 13 years of war the 1st MAW saw 25 of its helicopter squadrons deployed to Vietnam, and by January 1968 there would be 11 squadrons flying in the country on any given day until mid- 1971. (d) The first Marine helicopter squadron to be deployed to Vietnam was HMM-362 on April 15, 1962. Their mission in Vietnam was to both advise and train, transport troops, passengers, and cargo, and to provide aeromed