HJR0009 - 104th General Assembly
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| 1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, It is highly fitting that the Illinois General | ||||||
| 3 | Assembly pays honor and respect to those who have served our | ||||||
| 4 | country and, in doing so, have made the ultimate sacrifice for | ||||||
| 5 | our nation; and | ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Sergeant First Class Theodore Alexander | ||||||
| 7 | Katsoolias served in the U.S. Army as a member of 1st | ||||||
| 8 | Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, On November 25, 1950, approximately 300,000 | ||||||
| 10 | Chinese Communist Forces launched a counteroffensive against | ||||||
| 11 | U.N. forces after crossing the Yalu River; SFC Katsoolias' | ||||||
| 12 | unit was positioned near the Chongchon River and soon came | ||||||
| 13 | under intense attack; unable to halt the enemy advance and in | ||||||
| 14 | danger of being surrounded, his unit pulled back and was | ||||||
| 15 | forced to fight against enemy pursuit while also attempting to | ||||||
| 16 | break through well-defended roadblocks; the withdrawal was not | ||||||
| 17 | complete until early December and inflicted extremely heavy | ||||||
| 18 | casualties on his unit; and | ||||||
| 19 | WHEREAS, SFC Katsoolias went missing at some point during | ||||||
| 20 | the withdrawal to Kujang; he was never reported as a prisoner | ||||||
| 21 | of war, and his remains have not been recovered; and | ||||||
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| 1 | WHEREAS, SFC Katsoolias is memorialized on the Courts of | ||||||
| 2 | the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific; | ||||||
| 3 | therefore, be it | ||||||
| 4 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 5 | HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | ||||||
| 6 | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate Route 59 in West | ||||||
| 7 | Chicago from Route 38 to Route 64 as the "SFC Theodore A. | ||||||
| 8 | Katsoolias Memorial Highway"; and be it further | ||||||
| 9 | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation | ||||||
| 10 | is requested to erect, at suitable locations consistent with | ||||||
| 11 | State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs | ||||||
| 12 | giving notice of the name "SFC Theodore A. Katsoolias Memorial | ||||||
| 13 | Highway"; and be it further | ||||||
| 14 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 15 | presented to the family of SFC Katsoolias, West Chicago Mayor | ||||||
| 16 | Ruben Pineda, and the Secretary of the Illinois Department of | ||||||
| 17 | Transportation. | ||||||
