WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new name for the Hinesville Veterans Administration clinic is one step closer to happening.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed Rep. Buddy Carter’s resolution to rename the clinic for four Liberty County soldiers who were killed in action in the Vietnam War.

The legislation, HR 593, now goes to the Senate. If that body approves it, it will be sent to President Biden’s desk for his signature, making it law and official.

If approved, the clinic’s name will change to the John Gibson, Dan James, William Sapp, and Frankie Smiley VA Clinic.

Rep. Carter (R-Pooler) introduced the resolution onto the House floor Tuesday morning, recalling a meeting he was asked to attend last fall in Liberty County.

“They told me they wanted to name a VA clinic in Hinesville after four veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War,” he said. “When I went into that meeting, I was skeptical. ‘We can’t do this, we can’t rename a VA clinic anyway, much less after four individuals.’

“I have to tell you, when I left that meeting, not only was I convinced, but I was committed to making this happen. I sat through that meeting that day, and I listened to the families. I listened to the friends tell the stories of their loved ones. I was convinced this needs to happen.”

All members of Georgia’s House delegation voted in favor of the resolution.

Local veterans asked Rep. Carter to see if the facility could be renamed in honor of four local soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.

The Hinesville VA Outpatient Clinic operates under the Ralph Johnson Healthcare System, based in Charleston, S.C. Ralph Johnson, from Charleston, was awarded a Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions in the Vietnam War. The Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center has six clinics in South Carolina and Georgia, including the one in Hinesville.

Gibson and James were Riceboro natives. Gibson was a private first class in the Marines and was 21 years old when he was killed by small-arms fire during the Tet offensive of 1968. James, who was in the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, had been in Vietnam less than four months when he was killed by small-arms fire on December 29, 1968. He was 20 years old.

Sapp, 25, was with the 4th Infantry Division when he was killed June 7, 1968. Smiley was a lance corporal in the Marines when he was killed at the age of 24 by small-arms fire on August 25, 1968.

“Last weekend we celebrated Veterans Day,” Carter said on the House floor Tuesday morning. “These four weren’t with us to celebrate Veterans Day, but what they did gave us the opportunity to celebrate Veterans Day. Let’s at least do this for the family, for the memory of these four heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”