Sec. 1089. Findings; Sense of Congress
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Congress finds the following: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial continues to be a popular and important place of reflection and healing for a generation. The simple inscriptions of the names of the Nation’s dead bear mute testimony to the sacrifice of more than 58,000 Americans, serving as a deep source of comfort and pride for the families of those who were lost. 74 sailors were lost aboard the USS Frank E. Evans, which sank after colliding with the HMAS Melbourne on June 3, 1969, during a Southeast Asia Treaty Organization exercise just outside the designated combat zone.
The Frank Evans had been providing support fire for combat operations in Vietnam before the exercise that resulted in the accident and was scheduled to return after the exercise. The families of the 74 men lost aboard the USS Frank E. Evans have been fighting for decades to have their loved ones added to the Memorial. Exceptions have been granted to inscribe the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial for other servicemembers who were killed outside of the designated combat zone, including in 1983 when President Ronald Reagan ordered that 68 Marines who died on a flight outside the combat zone be added to the wall.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, in a letter dated December 15, 2010, expressed support for the addition of the 74 names of the men lost aboard the USS Frank E. Evans to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The heroism and sacrifice should never go unrecognized because of an arbitrary line on a map. It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should order that the names of the 74 military personnel lost aboard the USS Frank E. Evans on June 3, 1969, be added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.