HR1070 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1070 LRB098 21177 MST 59098 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to recognize the opening of the Col. Charles Young temporary exhibit and the presentation of the bronze maquette in his honor - the nation's first black colonel in the United States Armed Forces; and

WHEREAS, Col. Charles Young was born in 1864 to enslaved parents and became only the 3rd African-American to graduate from West Point; he rose through the military ranks and became the first black American in the regular army to be promoted to Colonel in 1917; in 1918, he was stationed at Camp Grant in Rockford; in addition to his exemplary military record, he served as the Superintendent of Sequoia National Park in California and as the nation's first black military attache to a foreign government; and

WHEREAS, Col. Charles Young was many things - a diplomat, an educator, a Buffalo Soldier - and his legacy lives on through all the African-American soldiers, Colonels, Generals, and Flag Officers that came after him; and

WHEREAS, The Coalition of Black Veterans, in conjunction with the African American Gallery of the Ethnic Heritage Museum has been working diligently to get Col. Young an honorary promotion to the rank of Brigadier General; and

WHEREAS, The Col. Charles Young temporary exhibit will open starting on May 17, 2014, Armed Forces Day, at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Rockford and will remain open throughout the month of June; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the opening of the Col. Charles Young temporary exhibit and the presentation of the bronze maquette in his honor; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the National Coalition of Black Veteran Organizations as an expression of our esteem and respect.