H.R. No. 2242

	R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, The year 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the end
	of a decades-long conflict in Vietnam, during which American
	service personnel fought alongside South Vietnamese troops to
	defend the cause of freedom; and
	WHEREAS, Concerned about the threat of a Communist takeover
	in Vietnam, the United States began sending material support to the
	French forces in that country in 1950, and the flow of military aid
	and advisors continued after the French withdrew and Vietnam was
	divided in 1954; the number of advisors climbed significantly in
	the early 1960s, and in 1962, American helicopter units began to
	transport South Vietnamese soldiers in military operations; three
	years later, the first American combat troops landed on South
	Vietnamese soil; ultimately, more than 2.5 million Americans served
	in South Vietnam, with 500,000 seeing actual fighting, and over 3.4
	million served in Southeast Asia; and
	WHEREAS, During the course of the conflict, more than 58,000
	American service members lost their lives and over 150,000 were
	seriously wounded; some 2,500 were listed as missing in action,
	many of whom remain unaccounted for; losses among South Vietnamese
	forces are estimated at a quarter of a million killed and perhaps as
	many badly injured, and countless civilians perished; and
	WHEREAS, American military involvement in the war ended with
	the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973; a few U.S.
	troops remained in South Vietnam to guard the American Embassy in
	Saigon, but the last of those were withdrawn on April 30, 1975,
	hours before the North Vietnamese Army captured the city; in the
	days before Saigon fell, approximately 135,000 Vietnamese were
	evacuated stateside, most of them military personnel and urban,
	educated professionals whose previous associations made them
	targets of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese; and
	WHEREAS, Over the ensuing decade, the Communists tightened
	their grip on the country and 840,000 more people fled, according to
	the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; some crossed
	Cambodia and Laos to reach Thailand, while hundreds of thousands
	risked their lives in small, wooden boats; although a large number
	reached refugee camps in such places as Thailand, Malaysia,
	Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, over 250,000 died at sea
	as a result of storms, illness, starvation, or capture by pirates;
	and
	WHEREAS, The United States has continued to welcome
	immigrants from Vietnam; by 2012, this population had reached
	almost 1.3 million and constituted the sixth-largest foreign-born
	group in the nation; Texas is now home to well over 200,000
	Vietnamese Americans, who have made substantial contributions to
	the economy, education, public service, science, medicine, the
	arts, and many other aspects of society; and
	WHEREAS, The observance of this anniversary reminds us of the
	magnitude of the sacrifices made and hardships endured in the quest
	for freedom, and we pay tribute to those whose lives were lost and
	recognize the courage and determination of the Vietnamese people
	who came to these shores in search of a better life; now, therefore,
	be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas
	Legislature hereby commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of
	the war in Vietnam.
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	______________________________
	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.R. No. 2242 was adopted by the House on May
	21, 2015, by a non-record vote.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House