(1)
from 1961 to 1975, the Special Guerilla Unit, consisting of approximately 50,000 Hmong soldiers, fought to defend United States interests and contain Communist expansion in Laos;
(2)
approximately 35,000 members of the Special Guerilla Unit died during combat operations in Laos;
(3)
members of the Special Guerilla Unit conducted numerous rescue missions to recover downed United States pilots;
(4)
thousands of veterans of the Special Guerilla Unit resettled with their families in the United States; and
(5)
the veterans of the Special Guerilla Unit displayed peerless heroism during their operations in Laos.