AJR 33, as introduced, Holden. Military and veterans.
This measure would urge the United States Department of Defense to include the names of the 74 fallen sailors of the Destroyer U.S.S. Frank E. Evans (DD 754) on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Fiscal committee: no.
P1 1WHEREAS, On March 29, 1969, the officers and men of the
2U.S.S. Frank E. Evans (DD 754) departed Long Beach, California
3for the western Pacific Ocean to carry out the operational orders
4of their Commander in Chief during a time of war with North
5Vietnam; and
6WHEREAS, On June 3, 1969, the U.S.S. Frank E. Evans (DD
7754), while on an allied naval exercise during the Vietnam War,
8collided with the Australian aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne (R
921) in the South China Sea, near the coast of Vietnam; and
10WHEREAS, The collision severed the ship into two sections,
11with the forward section sinking in less than three minutes, taking
12the lives of 74 American sailors; and
13WHEREAS, Members of the United States Armed Forces who
14died during the Vietnam War have been memorialized by placing
15their names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington
16D.C., as long as they died within the combat zone; and
P2 1WHEREAS, The United States Department of Defense maintains
2that the men who died as a result of the U.S.S. Frank E. Evans
3(DD 754) do not meet the criteria for inclusion on the Vietnam
4Veterans Memorial because the accident occurred outside the
5combat zone, and continues to deny the placement of the names
6of the lost 74 sailors on the memorial; and
7WHEREAS, The Vietnam War combat zone boundaries, which
8were ill defined and were changed from time to time, should not
9be applied to exclude the names of the lost sailors from the Vietnam
10Veterans Memorial; and
11WHEREAS, Other members of the United States Armed Forces
12who died outside the designated Vietnam War combat zone have
13had their names placed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; now,
14therefore be it
15Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
16California, jointly, That the names of the 74 sailors from the U.S.S.
17Frank E. Evans (DD 754) should be included on the Vietnam
18Veterans Memorial, and California fully supports an immediate
19favorable decision by the United States Department of Defense to
20make an exception to its criteria and include those names on the
21Vietnam Veterans Memorial; and be it further
22Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
23of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
24States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
25Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and
26Representative from California in the Congress of the United
27States.
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