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SENATE RESOLUTION


 
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    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to 
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learn of the death of Marine Lieutenant General Victor "Brute" 
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Krulak, who passed away on December 29, 2008; and

 
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    WHEREAS, In a career that spanned three decades, Lieutenant 
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General Krulak displayed bravery during combat and brilliance 
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as a tactician and organizer of troops; he was born in Denver, 
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Colorado, on January 7, 1913, and was a 1934 graduate of the 
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Naval Academy, where he picked up his nickname, a jest on the 
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fact he was 5-foot-4; and

 
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    WHEREAS, As a junior officer he served in Marine actions in 
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Central America; in World War II, as a lieutenant colonel, he 
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led a battalion in a week-long battle as a diversionary raid to 
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cover the invasion of Bougainville in the South Pacific; 
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although wounded, he refused to be evacuated and was awarded 
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the Navy Cross; under heavy fire from the Japanese, the Navy 
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sent patrol boats to evacuate wounded Marines; Lieutenant 
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General Krulak befriended one of the young commanders, John F. 
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Kennedy, and decades later he  drank whiskey in the Oval Office 
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with President Kennedy; and

 
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    WHEREAS, After World War II, Lieutenant General Krulak held 
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several key jobs, including commander of the 5th Marine 
 


 






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Regiment and then as chief of staff to the 1st Marine Division 
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during the war in Korea; he later served as commander of the 
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Marine boot camp in San Diego and, from 1962 to 1964, as 
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special assistant for counterinsurgency to the Joint Chiefs of 
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Staff; as commanding general of Fleet Marine Force Pacific, he 
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made 54 trips to Vietnam; and

 
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    WHEREAS, In 1984 his book, "First to Fight: An Inside View 
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of the U.S. Marine Corps" was published, examining the history 
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and culture of the Marine Corps; it remains on the official 
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reading list for Marines and has been said to carry the DNA of 
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the organization that prides itself on being the worst enemy 
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that a foe of the United States can imagine; and

 
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    WHEREAS,
All three of his sons served in Vietnam: Charles 
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and William as Marine infantry officers and Victor Jr. as a 
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Navy chaplain; after retiring from the Marines, William Krulak 
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followed his brother into the Episcopal clergy;

Charles Krulak, 
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as a general, served as Marine commandant from 1995 to 1999, 
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and followed in his father's footsteps as an innovator and 
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champion of the enlisted man; along with his sons, Lieutenant 
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General Krulak is survived by four grandchildren and 10 
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great-grandchildren;

Lieutenant General Krulak's wife, Amy, 
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passed away in 2001; therefore, be it

 
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    RESOLVED, BY THE  SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL 
 


 






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ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with 
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family, friends, and a grateful nation, the passing of Marine 
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Lieutenant General Victor "Brute" Krulak; and be it further

 
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    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be 
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presented to the family of Marine Lieutenant General Victor 
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"Brute" Krulak as a symbol of our sympathy and respect.