Full Text of HR0101 100th General Assembly
HR0101 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR0101 | | LRB100 08036 MST 18121 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, According to the Women in Military Service for | 3 | | America Memorial, 2.5 million American women have served or are | 4 | | serving in the United States Armed Forces since the American | 5 | | Revolution; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, According to the United States Department of | 7 | | Veterans Affairs, 55,000 women veterans reside in Illinois; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, During the American Revolution, Margaret Corbin, | 9 | | dubbed "Captain Molly", became the first woman to receive a | 10 | | military pension; she was wounded during the defense of Ft. | 11 | | Washington when her husband, John Corbin, was killed and she | 12 | | assumed his cannon post; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, During the Civil War, women served in many roles | 14 | | supporting military forces; they organized public relief and | 15 | | sanitary commissions that gathered and distributed supplies to | 16 | | the troops; nurses and matrons staffed government and | 17 | | regimental hospitals; women disguised themselves as male | 18 | | soldiers to fight on the front, and also served as laundresses, | 19 | | cooks, and spies; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, During the Spanish-American War, over 1,500 women | 21 | | served as nurses with the Army in Hawaii, Cuba, the |
| | | HR0101 | - 2 - | LRB100 08036 MST 18121 r |
|
| 1 | | Philippines, Puerto Rico, on the hospital ship USS Relief, and | 2 | | in stateside hospitals; and | 3 | | WHEREAS, During World War I, 12,000 women served stateside, | 4 | | freeing men to fight in Europe; overseas, Army and Navy nurses, | 5 | | volunteers with the American Red Cross, the YMCA, the YWCA, the | 6 | | Salvation Army, and the American Women's Hospital Service all | 7 | | worked together caring for the "doughboys"; over 400 women died | 8 | | as a result of their service; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, During World War II, approximately 40,000 | 10 | | American military women served stateside and overseas; women | 11 | | served in the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and as members | 12 | | of the Women Airforce Service Pilots; women served in every | 13 | | theater of the war and in many non-traditional roles; 88 women | 14 | | military nurses were held prisoners of war and more than 460 | 15 | | women lost their lives; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, The Women's Armed Services Integration Act of | 17 | | 1958, signed by President Truman on June 12, 1948, granted | 18 | | women permanent status in the regular and reserve forces of the | 19 | | Army, Navy, Marines, and the newly created Air Force; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, During the Korean War era, over 50,000 women again | 21 | | served both stateside and overseas; in Korea, Army nurses | 22 | | served in Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH) and general |
| | | HR0101 | - 3 - | LRB100 08036 MST 18121 r |
|
| 1 | | hospitals, while Air Force nurses supported air evacuation | 2 | | missions, and Navy nurses served on nearby hospital ships; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, During the Vietnam War, 7,000 women served in | 4 | | Southeast Asia; the majority were nurses assigned to military | 5 | | hospitals, air evacuation, hospital ships, and field units, | 6 | | many of them were wounded; eight women who died are | 7 | | memorialized on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, | 8 | | D.C.; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, In 1970, the first woman was promoted to General | 10 | | after an amendment to the United States Code removed | 11 | | restrictions on the careers of female officers which had | 12 | | previously kept women from the general and flag ranks; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, The Department of Defense Appropriation | 14 | | Authorization Act of 1976, signed by President Gerald Ford, | 15 | | established the admission of women into United States military | 16 | | academies; 119 women entered West Point, 81 entered the Naval | 17 | | Academy, and 157 enrolled at the Air Force Academy; women also | 18 | | enrolled in the Coast Guard Academy and the Merchant Marine | 19 | | Academy; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Approximately 410,000 American women deployed for | 21 | | Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, making it the single | 22 | | largest deployment of military women in U.S. military history; |
| | | HR0101 | - 4 - | LRB100 08036 MST 18121 r |
|
| 1 | | women served in all areas of the operations, with the exception | 2 | | of direct combat; two women became prisoners of war, and five | 3 | | were killed in action; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Women have participated in U.S. military | 5 | | operations in Grenada, Panama, Honduras, Bosnia, Croatia, | 6 | | Somalia, Rwanda, and Haiti; laws banning women from flying in | 7 | | combat were repealed in 1991, and those banning women from duty | 8 | | on combat ships were revoked in 1993; and | 9 | | WHEREAS, In March of 1996, Sergeant Heather Lynn Johnsen | 10 | | became the first woman to be awarded the Guard, Unknown Soldier | 11 | | Identification Badge, the second-least awarded badge in the | 12 | | Army; that same year, the first women were promoted to military | 13 | | three-star ranks when Navy Rear Admiral Patricia Tracey was | 14 | | promoted to Vice Admiral, and Marine Major General Carol Mutter | 15 | | was promoted to Lieutenant General; and
| 16 | | Whereas, Women serving in the military are deployed around | 17 | | the world and have supported major missions including Operation | 18 | | Able Sentry on the Serbian/Macedonia border, Operations Joint | 19 | | Endeavor and Decisive Edge, NATO missions in Bosnia, and | 20 | | Operations Southern Watch, Pacific Wave, and Provide Comfort, | 21 | | which supported the no-fly zone established against Iraq and | 22 | | offered humanitarian relief to Kurdish evacuees; and |
| | | HR0101 | - 5 - | LRB100 08036 MST 18121 r |
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 1998, for the first time, a woman fighter pilot | 2 | | delivered a payload of missiles and laser-guided bombs in | 3 | | combat; a year later, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Eileen | 4 | | Collins became the first woman to command the space shuttle; | 5 | | also in 1999, Navy Rear Admiral Evelyn Fields became the first | 6 | | woman and first African American to command the National | 7 | | Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps. (NOAA); in 2000, | 8 | | the Coast Guard promoted its first women to flag officer ranks; | 9 | | in 2000, Navy Lieutenant Commander Darlene Iskra became the | 10 | | first woman to command a Navy warship at sea; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Women were among the first troops deployed in | 12 | | response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; when | 13 | | Operation Enduring Freedom was launched a month later, women | 14 | | were again among the first deployed; on March 23, 2003, Army | 15 | | PFC Lori Piestewa became the first servicewoman to be killed in | 16 | | Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first Native American | 17 | | servicewoman ever to die in battle; PFC Piestewa, PFC Jessica | 18 | | Lynch, and SPC Shoshana Johnson became prisoners of war during | 19 | | the early days of the operation; by the end of 2004, 19 | 20 | | servicewomen had been killed in Iraq as a result of hostile | 21 | | action since the beginning of the war; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, In 2005, Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester of the Kentucky | 23 | | Air National Guard, became the first woman to be awarded the | 24 | | Silver Star for combat action; she is one of 13 women to ever |
| | | HR0101 | - 6 - | LRB100 08036 MST 18121 r |
|
| 1 | | be awarded the Silver Star and the only woman to receive the | 2 | | award for combat action; the other 12 were nurses awarded for | 3 | | valor in World War I and World War II; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Today, an estimated 344,500 women serve in the | 5 | | U.S. Armed Forces on active duty, in the National Guard and | 6 | | Reserves, at every enlisted rank, and within the officer corps; | 7 | | therefore, be it
| 8 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 9 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 10 | | declare November 9, 2017 as "Illinois Women Veterans Day" to | 11 | | commemorate the sacrifices endured and the valor displayed by | 12 | | American Women veterans; and be it further
| 13 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 14 | | presented to the Director of the Illinois Department of | 15 | | Veterans' Affairs, Erica Jeffries.
|
|