AK HJR8

Alaska State Legislature encourages U.S. Congress to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Hmong veterans of the Vietnam War who served as CIA-recruited Special Guerrilla Units beginning in 1960

Up to 100,000 Hmong soldiers were recruited to fight Communist Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese forces in Laos, intercepting troops and supplies along the Ho Chi Minh Trail while protecting U.S. personnel and rescuing downed pilots

Approximately 40,000 Hmong soldiers were killed, 50,000 seriously injured, and 3,000 missing in action—a death rate 10 times higher than U.S. soldiers in Vietnam

Following the war, Hmong soldiers faced retribution from Communist forces, causing hundreds of thousands to flee as refugees; approximately 50,000 Hmong veterans now reside in the United States

Copies of the resolution will be sent to the President, Vice President, congressional leadership, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Alaska's congressional delegation, and all members of the 119th Congress