[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2072 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2072

 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 and 12, 1970, while serving as a lance 
          corporal in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2007

 Mr. Patrick J. Murphy 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 and 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 and 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 that 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.
                                 <all>