SR0143 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, March 3, 2013 marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Private First Class (PFC) Manuel Perez Jr.; and

WHEREAS, PFC Manuel Perez Jr. was a World War II paratrooper of Mexican heritage and a resident of Chicago; he was a naturally gifted athlete, whose peers gave him the nickname of "Bullet"; and

WHEREAS, PFC Manuel Perez Jr. was a co-founder of the Cyclistas Bicycle Club and a member of the Benito Juarez Social Club; he was also a 1941 graduate of Crane Technical High School and an employee of the Best Foods Company in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, PFC Manuel Perez Jr. was drafted into the United States Army on January 9, 1943; after completing infantry training, he volunteered for paratrooper training and was assigned to the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division (The Angels); he subsequently served in the Pacific Theater during the war; and

WHEREAS, PFC Manuel Perez Jr. fought in the Battle of Luzon in the Philippines, where he accomplished a feat which is still unparalleled in American warfare; and

WHEREAS, On February 13, 1945, while his company was pinned down by ferocious enemy fire, PFC Manuel Perez Jr. as lead scout for Company A, made a one-man charge against the enemy; his action is credited with single-handedly neutralizing 11 of 12 concrete Japanese pillboxes, one of which maintained twin-mounted 50 caliber machineguns, that held up the advancement of his company at Fort McKinley, which was under enemy control; in the course of the reduction of these enemy strongholds, he was able to kill at least 75 of the enemy, 18 in hand-to-hand combat, as described in a letter he personally wrote home informing family members of his heroic actions and in recommendation for a medal; and

WHEREAS, On March 14, 1945, PFC Manuel Perez Jr. was shot by an enemy sniper while covering the withdrawal of his fellow Paratroopers during the Battle of Manila; for going above and beyond the call of duty during this action, he was recommended for the nation's highest military decoration for valor, the Medal of Honor, along with the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantry Badge, and the Parachutist Badge; unfortunately, he would not live to receive the Medal of Honor; and

WHEREAS, The Medal of Honor was presented to PFC Manuel Perez Jr.'s father, Manuel Perez, Sr. of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, on the Mexican side of the International Bridge between the United States and Mexico; and

WHEREAS, PFC Manuel Perez Jr. along with Edward (Butch) O'Hare and Frank T. Witek, were the only Medal of Honor recipients from Chicago to be killed in action during World War II in the Pacific Theater and on June 22, 1946; and

WHEREAS, PFC Manuel Perez Jr.'s childhood friends, now veterans themselves, with the assistance of Father Patrick McPolin of Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Chicago, formed the American Legion, Manuel Perez Jr. Post 1017; and

WHEREAS, The United States Department of the Army dedicated the Manuel Perez Jr. Army Reserve Center, 221st Army Reserve Hospital in Oklahoma in his honor; in 1980, the City of Chicago dedicated the Manuel Perez Jr. Memorial Plaza at Kolin and 26th Streets in Little Village; in 1990, a veterans task force designated a newly constructed school as the Manuel Perez Jr. Elementary School, where Medal of Honor recipients Roy Benavidez and Al Lynch were joint keynote speakers at the dedication; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we designate the date of March 14, 2013 as Manuel Perez Jr. Day in the State of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Manuel Perez Jr. as a symbol of our great respect and esteem.