[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4310 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4310

 To authorize and request the President to award the Medal of Honor to 
  Richard Gresko, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, for acts of valor in the 
  Republic of Vietnam on March 11-12, 1970, while serving as a lance 
          corporal in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 10, 2005

 Mr. Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which 
            was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize and request the President to award the Medal of Honor to 
  Richard Gresko, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, for acts of valor in the 
  Republic of Vietnam on March 11-12, 1970, while serving as a lance 
          corporal in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION AND REQUEST FOR AWARD OF MEDAL OF HONOR TO 
              RICHARD GRESKO FOR ACTS OF VALOR DURING THE VIETNAM WAR.

    (a) Authorization.--The President is authorized and requested to 
award the Medal of Honor under section 6241 of title 10, United States 
Code, to Richard Gresko, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, for the acts of 
valor during the Vietnam War described in subsection (b).
    (b) Action Described.--The acts of valor referred to in subsection 
(a) are the actions of Richard Gresko in the Republic of Vietnam on the 
night of March 11-12, 1970, while a lance corporal in the United States 
Marine Corps serving in the Third Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, 
First Marine Division. On that night, Sergeant (then Lance Corporal) 
Gresko was in one element of an ambush set up to protect a village from 
enemy attack. Around midnight, his element ambushed a Viet Cong unit 
which was attempting to enter the village. During the ensuing fight, 
Sergeant Gresko observed an enemy hand grenade land near his position. 
With complete disregard for his own personal safety and fully aware of 
the dangers involved, he unhesitatingly threw himself on top of the 
grenade, absorbing most of the blast fragments with his own body in 
order to protect his men from certain injury and possible death. 
Although painfully wounded, he continued to direct his men's actions 
until the squad made their sweep.
    (c) Waiver of Time Limitations.--The award under subsection (a) may 
be made without regard to the time limitations specified in section 
6248 of title 10, United States Code, or any other time limitation with 
respect to the awarding of certain medals to persons who served in the 
Navy or Marine Corps.
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