To provide eligibility for veterans benefits for individuals who served in the United States merchant marine in the Southeast Asia theater of operations during the Vietnam Era.

This bill requires that the service of specified U.S. merchant marines be considered as active duty for purposes of determining the individual's eligibility for veterans benefits. Specifically, the bill applies to merchant marines who served as crewmembers of vessels in oceangoing service during the Vietnam Era in the Southeast Asia theater of operations and receive a certificate of honorable discharge.