Bill Text: HI HCR67 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Medal of Honor; Recommendation; Captain Robert M. Caliboso

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-05 - Referred to VMI, referral sheet 28 [HCR67 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2015-HCR67-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	67
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

urging hawaii's congressional delegation to support the reconsideration of posthumously awarding the medal of honor to captain robert maluenda caliboso.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, Robert Maluenda Caliboso was raised on the island of Molokai; and

 

     WHEREAS, Robert Maluenda Caliboso graduated from Saint Louis College (now Saint Louis High School) on the island of Oahu in 1955; and

 

     WHEREAS, Robert Maluenda Caliboso served honorably and with great distinction in the United States Army, where he attained the rank of captain; and

 

     WHEREAS, on March 5, 1966, Captain Caliboso was serving in Vietnam as Aircraft Commander of a UH-1D helicopter in Company B, 1st Aviation Battalion, 1st Infantry Division; and

 

     WHEREAS, Captain Caliboso learned that the perimeter of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry was surrounded and under heavy attack by a regimental-sized Viet Cong force in the vicinity of Lai Khe, Binh Duong Province, and that the surrounded American infantrymen were quickly running out of ammunition; and

 

     WHEREAS, Captain Caliboso and his crew volunteered to fly into the raging jungle battle to deliver fifteen hundred pounds of ammunition that was desperately needed to prevent their fellow soldiers from being overrun and annihilated; and

 

     WHEREAS, on the approach to the landing zone, Captain Caliboso's helicopter was repeatedly hit by heavy machine gun and small arms fire; and

 

     WHEREAS, knowing the ammunition was desperately needed to save the besieged infantrymen, Captain Caliboso and his crew ignored their personal safety and continued through the heavy fire to the landing zone; and

 

     WHEREAS, although the entire helicopter crew had been seriously wounded, all the ammunition was successfully unloaded and Captain Caliboso managed to fly the helicopter out of its untenable position; and

 

     WHEREAS, moments later, the helicopter was shot down by a deadly cross fire from Viet Cong heavy machine guns, killing all aboard; and

 

     WHEREAS, Captain Caliboso's gallantry, in the face of overwhelming firepower, allowed the heavily outnumbered infantry troops to keep fighting and inspired them to rally, turn the tide of battle, and completely rout the insurgent force; and

 

     WHEREAS, Captain Caliboso's conspicuous bravery undoubtedly saved numerous American lives; and

 

     WHEREAS, Captain Caliboso was recommended to posthumously receive the Medal of Honor, America's highly military honor, in recognition of his acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty; and

 

     WHEREAS, the recommendation was reviewed by appropriate Army commanders and authorities who determined that Captain Caliboso should instead receive the Distinguished Service Cross, which was awarded in his honor in 1967; and

 

     WHEREAS, supporters of Captain Caliboso believe that he rightly deserved the Medal of Honor and later urged that the decision to posthumously award him the Distinguished Service Cross in lieu of the Medal of Honor be reconsidered; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Secretary of the Army determined in 2009 that the degree of action and service rendered did not meet the criteria for the Medal of Honor, and reaffirmed that the previously awarded Distinguished Service Cross was the appropriate award for Captain Caliboso's actions; and

 

     WHEREAS, the supporters of Captain Caliboso believe that Captain Caliboso's heroic actions on March 5, 1966, displayed the same level of unselfish bravery for which other United States service members have received the Medal of Honor; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Army's Awards and Decorations Branch informed Captain Caliboso's supporters that Army regulations stipulate that one-time reconsideration of a previously approved award shall be conclusive and that the branch can take no further administrative action regarding their request for reconsideration; and

 

     WHEREAS, supporters of Captain Caliboso have petitioned the Army Board for Correction of Military Records, the highest adjudicating authority with final authority over matters of this nature, to further consider recommending that Captain Caliboso posthumously receive the Medal of Honor; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2015, the Senate concurring, that Hawaii's congressional delegation is urged to support the petition to posthumously award Captain Robert Maluenda Caliboso the Medal of Honor, the United States of America's highest military honor, for his personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to each member of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Medal of Honor; Recommendation; Captain Robert M. Caliboso