Sponsors (21)
The bill adds long-overdue recognition and historical completeness by adding 74 sailors' names to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, but does so via an exception that bypasses normal commemorative-review safeguards and could set a precedent for future memorial changes.
Families of the 74 USS Frank E. Evans sailors, Vietnam veterans, and visitors will see those sailors' names added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, providing formal recognition, public acknowledgment, and closure.
Historians, researchers, educators, and memorial visitors will see a more accurate and complete Vietnam-era record on the memorial, improving historical completeness and interpretive value.
Federal employees and memorial stakeholders will see this addition exempted from the Commemorative Works Act review, allowing the change to proceed without the usual statutory review processes and stakeholder safeguards.
Veterans organizations, memorial stakeholders, and families of other honorees may face disputes or concerns about placement and nomenclature and risk that this exception creates a precedent for future bypasses of established memorial rules.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Secretary of Defense to authorize adding the 74 USS Frank E. Evans crew killed June 3, 1969, to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall after consultation on naming and placement.
Introduced November 7, 2025 by Mike Flood · Last progress November 7, 2025
Directs the Secretary of Defense to authorize adding the names of the 74 crew members of the USS Frank E. Evans who were killed on June 3, 1969, to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. The Secretary must complete this authorization within one year and consult with the Secretary of the Interior, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, and other appropriate authorities about how the names are listed and where they will be placed if space is limited. The law also states that the Commemorative Works Act does not apply to these specific actions.