HR0805 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0805 LRB094 17831 HSS 53132 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On June 16, 1775, Horatio Gates was appointed as the first Adjutant General (AG); as a result, the AG Corps became the second oldest branch of the U.S. Army; Mr. Gates served as key advisor and principal assistant to General Washington; and

WHEREAS, Since World War II, the Adjutant General's Corps has been combat tested on several far-flung battlefields such as Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, the Persian Gulf War (Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm), and, most recently, in the Global War on Terrorism; and

WHEREAS, While serving in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Fort Benning, Georgia, Kuwait, and Iraq, the soldiers from the 347th AG Replacement Battalion, the 735th and 825th Replacement Companies, and the 993rd AG Company Postal have completed this task in an expedient and professional manner; and

WHEREAS, The following soldiers were assigned to the 993rd AG Company Postal and spent 13 months in Iraq working postal operations: 1SG Donald W. Simpson, 1LT Gerald Thornhill, SGT Dawn A. Wilkerson, CPT Lloyd L. Williams, SPC Mary M. Alberico, SSG William B. Ashmore, SSG Mark B. Campbell, SGT Jeremy D. Childers, SGT David W. Doerner, SGT Johnathon E. Dryden, SGT Carrie N. Goldstein, SPC James L. Johnson, SSG Kevin D. Kline, SPC John J. Kranawetter, SPC Amanda L. Lempera, SFC Russell L. Nicks, SSG Brandt P. Patterson, SGT Brandon P. Poracky, SFC Clay E. Swanner, and SPC Dale F. Shaw; and

WHEREAS, The following soldiers were assigned to the 847th Personnel Service Battalion in Kuwait for one year processing replacements and controlling soldiers going during their Rest and Relaxation Leave: SFC Roy W. Tolbert, SFC Larry W. Morgan, SFC Charles C. Hutchison, SFC Tracy R. South, CSM George J. Pizanowski, III, WOC Danny L. Chester, SFC Robert Przygoda, SSG Gary W. Childers, SGT Brandon J. Jones, SGT Eric W. Dungan, SGT Sakou Locke, SGT Donald L. Yakstis II, SGT James C. Hayes, SPC Aaron D. Irvin, and SPC Tommy L. Hamilton; and

WHEREAS, The following soldiers assigned to the 735th Replacement Company were deployed to Ft. Benning, Georgia, working at the Conus Replacement Center processing replacement soldiers to the theater of operation from January 2004 to December 2004: SPC Benjamin Thomson, SSG Daniel R. Johnson, SSG Robert E. Plank, SGT Kimberly S. Geppert, SGT Brad Rhodes, SGT Todd M. Werdebaugh, CPL Stephen N. Harris, SPC Matthew Williams, CPT James Hess, 1SG James Alexander, SFC Mitchell Graves, SFC Dale Reamy, SFC Douglas Fisher, SFC Bradley Smith, SSG Stephen King, SSG Benjamin Tobin, SGT Trevor Wilkerson, SPC Nathaniel Anderson, SPC Justin Etheridge, SPC Brett Madeker, SPC Oscar Rodgers, SPC Angelina Ruffino, and SSG Thomas Evans; and

WHEREAS, The following soldiers assigned to the 825th Replacement Company were deployed to Ft. Benning, Georgia, working at the Conus Replacement Center processing replacement soldiers to the theater of operation from February of 2003 to January of 2004: SSG Amy Nicole Diesen, SSG Trevor Chitwood, SSG Rickey Hill, SSG Benton T. Willis, MAJ Edgardo R. Pimentel, and SSG Timothy D. Schenk; and

WHEREAS, The following soldiers were in Bosnia serving in the peace keeping mission for a period of one year: SGT Justin W. Hodges and SSG Jeffrey W. McIntosh; and

WHEREAS, The following soldiers were assigned to various units and were deployed overseas in support of Operation Enduring/Iraqi Freedom: SPC Jonathon A. Sexton, SGT Christopher N. Jones, SPC Gabriel S. Morris, SPC Jeremy S. Legrand, SPC Richard D. Gregory, CPT Eric D. Charles, SPC Johanna L. Meyers, SPC Danny R. Martin, Jr., SPC Pualani Mt Jiones, LTC Carol A. Laage, 1SG Mark A. Cherry, PFC Thomas J. Finley, SPC Joseph Gilliam, SPC Michael Lochard, SPC Miguel Lopez, SGT Jaclyn Burford, and MSG Awilda Moyet; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate these brave and courageous individuals as they are honored at the "Welcome Home Warrior-Citizen Award Ceremony" on January 7, 2006, in Mt. Vernon, and we thank them for their devotion to our country and willingness to bravely serve and defend the freedom of people everywhere; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to each of the brave soldiers listed above and to the 347th Replacement Battalion as a sign of our deepest gratitude for a job well done.