HR0305 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0305 LRB102 18395 MST 26308 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Brigadier General Thomas V. Draude, USMC (Ret.) has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Marine Corps University Foundation (MCUF) and The General Robert H. Barrow Distinguished Chair of Military Studies at the Marine Corps University; he started at the foundation in September 2004 and taught an elective course at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Information Operations and a Case Study at the Marine Corps War College; he retired from MCUF in 2015 and is currently an adjunct teacher at St. Leo University and an adjunct teacher at the University of South Florida; and

WHEREAS, General Draude joined USAA's San Antonio, Texas corporate headquarters in February 1993 as Vice President of Support Services; in August 1993, he was promoted to Senior Vice President, Administration and Marketing for USAA Federal Savings Bank; in April 1995, he was reassigned to USAA's Property & Casualty Insurance Group and assumed the position of Senior Vice President and General Manager of USAA's Western Regional Office in Sacramento, California in September 1995; he was reassigned to the Tampa, Florida office in April 1996 and became the Senior Vice President and General Manager of USAA's Southeast Regional Office; he retired from USAA in March 2003; and

WHEREAS, General Draude served in the United States Marine Corps for over 30 years, retiring on January 1, 1993 as a Brigadier General; his career included serving three tours in Vietnam as an infantry platoon and company commander and as an advisor to the Vietnamese Marines in Vietnam and Cambodia; he returned to the Naval Academy and served as a Company Officer and Brigade Performance Officer; he commanded Marine Embassy Security Guards in Europe and the Fifth Marines; he served as the Assistant Division Commander of the First Marine Division during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm; he was responsible for the Marine deception operations in the combat theater; he retired as the Director of Public Affairs for the Marine Corps and served on the Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces; and

WHEREAS, General Draude received two Distinguished Service Medals and ten personal awards for combat, including two Silver Star Medals, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Navy Commendation Medal, all with the Combat "Vs", and the Purple Heart Medal; and

WHEREAS, General Draude was born in Kankakee; he graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy and was an honor graduate of the U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School; he was awarded a master's degree in military arts and sciences and was an honor graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College; he is also a graduate of the National War College; and

WHEREAS, General Draude and his wife, Sandi, have three adult children, Loree, Patrick, and Ryan; they also have four grandchildren, Sam, Julia, Priya, and Leena; and

WHEREAS, The Kankakee County Museum will be hosting a display of items General Draude has accumulated throughout his career beginning on May 29, 2021; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare May 29, 2021 as "Brigadier General Thomas V. Draude, USMC (Ret.) Day" in the State of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to General Draude and the Kankakee County Museum.