“To award a Congressional Gold Medal to United States Marines who served as part of helicopter support missions in the Vietnam War.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings on the service of approximately 391,000 U.S. Marines and 10,000 Navy Corpsmen in Vietnam through 1975, primarily with the First and Third Marine Divisions (90%) or First Marine Air Wing (1st MAW, 10%), including the deployment of 25 helicopter squadrons from the 1st MAW and the risks and missions—especially medevac operations—of those aircrews.
This section authorizes the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design to the Medevac Marines and Navy Corpsmen of the Vietnam War collectively, in recognition of their heroic military service that saved countless lives and contributed to U.S. defense. The Secretary of the Treasury must strike the medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense; following presentation, the medal is given to the National Museum of the United States Navy for display and research, with a sense of Congress that it be made available for display at appropriate Vietnam War-associated locations affiliated with the museum.
This section authorizes the Secretary to strike and sell bronze duplicates of the gold medal struck under section 3 at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
This section provides that medals struck pursuant to this Act are (1) national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code, and (2) numismatic items for purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of such title. (Thus, receipts from their sale are deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, which finances Mint operations—including production and sale of numismatic items—without fiscal year limitations.)
This section authorizes the use of amounts from the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund to pay the costs of striking medals under this Act and requires deposit of proceeds from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 into that fund.