[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 188 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 188

   Honoring the service, courage, and sacrifice of the Seawolves of 
                Helicopter Attack Light Squadron Three.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 25, 2009

    Mr. Boozman (for himself and Mr. Buyer) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Honoring the service, courage, and sacrifice of the Seawolves of 
                Helicopter Attack Light Squadron Three.

Whereas Helicopter Attack Light Squadron Three (in this resolution referred to 
        as ``HAL-3'') began as detachments of Navy Helicopter Combat Support 
        Squadron One (in this resolution referred to as ``HC-1''), which began 
        helicopter gunship operations on September 19, 1966, in support of Army, 
        Navy brown-water, and special operations units in the Mekong Delta of 
        South Vietnam;
Whereas the detachments of HC-1 adopted the name ``Seawolves'';
Whereas HAL-3 was officially established on April 1, 1967, in Vung Tau, South 
        Vietnam and was the only Navy helicopter gunship squadron in the Vietnam 
        War;
Whereas during the squadron's five-year existence, the nearly 3,000 Seawolves of 
        HAL-3 displayed extraordinary courage in support of United States 
        military and political objectives in Vietnam;
Whereas 44 Seawolves of HAL-3 gave their lives in support of military operations 
        in the Mekong Delta;
Whereas the extraordinary performance of the Seawolves of HAL-3 earned numerous 
        unit citations, including six Presidential Unit Citations, 13 Navy Unit 
        Commendations, two Meritorious Unit Commendation, one Republic of 
        Vietnam Meritorious Unit Commendation, and the Vietnam Service Medal;
Whereas the valor of the Seawolves of HAL-3 earned five Navy Crosses, 31 Silver 
        Stars, 2 Legion of Merit Medals, five Navy and Marine Corps Medals, 219 
        Distinguished Flying Crosses, 156 Purple Hearts, 101 Bronze Stars, 142 
        Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Crosses, 439 Navy Commendation Medals, 228 
        Navy achievement Medals, and more than 16,000 Air Medals, making it one 
        of the most decorated Navy squadrons in the Vietnam War;
Whereas the maintenance and administrative personnel of HAL-3 contributed 
        greatly to the successes of the nine HAL-3 detachments operating 
        throughout the Mekong Delta by providing the detachments with superb 
        maintenance support and logistics;
Whereas HAL-3 flew over 130,000 hours of combat and logistical support;
Whereas HAL-3 inflicted an estimated 8,700 casualties on enemy forces;
Whereas HAL-3 performed 1,530 medical evacuations;
Whereas HAL-3 delivered more than 37,000 passengers and more than 1,000,000 
        pounds of cargo; and
Whereas HAL-3 was decommissioned in March 1972 at Binh Thuy, South Vietnam, as 
        part of the Vietnamization program, leaving behind it a combat and 
        humanitarian record recognized as bringing great credit upon the United 
        States Navy and its role in the Vietnam War: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, that the House of Representatives--
            (1) honors the service, courage, and sacrifice of the 
        Seawolves of HAL-3;
            (2) honors the families of the Seawolves of HAL-3 for their 
        support;
            (3) expresses its condolences to the families and comrades 
        of those killed in action; and
            (4) recognizes HAL-3 as a unique squadron in the history of 
        naval aviation.
                                 <all>