HR0300 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0300 LRB104 13439 MST 25828 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, It is highly fitting that the Illinois House of Representatives pays honor and respect to those who have served our country and, in doing so, have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation; and

WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Robert Dale Herreid served as a Specialist 5 in the U.S. Army with Detachment A-402P, Company D, 5th Special Forces Group and was an advisor operating with a mobile strike force company; and

WHEREAS, On October 10, 1968, SSG Herreid's company was ambushed by a large enemy force in the Co To Mountain area, Chau Doc Province, South Vietnam; the company was forced to fall back after suffering casualties, and the area was then subjected to heavy artillery bombardment in subsequent battles; and

WHEREAS, SSG Herreid was hit and killed during the ensuing fire fight, and his unit could not evacuate his body as they fell back; later searches of the battle area failed to locate his remains; and

WHEREAS, Following the incident, the Army promoted SSG Herreid to the rank of Staff Sergeant; he is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific; his name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC; and

WHEREAS, SSG Herreid was awarded the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Army Presidential Unit Citation, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross, and the Army Good Conduct Medal; and

WHEREAS, The Heroes Way Designation Program through the Illinois Department of Transportation honors fallen Illinois heroes who have been killed in action while performing active military duty with the United States Armed Forces and has designated Route 31 in Batavia from Main Street south to Mooseheart Road as the SSG Robert D. Herreid Memorial Highway; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we commend the designation of the SSG Robert D. Herreid Memorial Highway as part of the Heroes Way Designation Program through the Illinois Department of Transportation; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copies of this resolution be presented to the family of SSG Herreid.