Full Text of HR0167 102nd General Assembly
HR0167 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Over 20,000 black Americans trained at Montford | 3 | | Point, fought honorably and with distinction, and broke down | 4 | | barriers of discrimination to become the first black Americans | 5 | | to serve in the Marine Corps; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive | 7 | | Order 8802 on June 25th, 1941, banning discrimination because | 8 | | of race, creed, color, or national origin in all government | 9 | | agencies; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The first recruits reported to the segregated | 11 | | Camp Montford Point, a small section of land on Camp Lejeune, | 12 | | North Carolina, on August 26th, 1942; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, The men of the 51st Composite Defense Battalion | 14 | | distinguished themselves as the finest artillery gunners in | 15 | | the Marine Corps, breaking almost every accuracy record in | 16 | | training; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Private Kenneth Tibbs was the first black Marine | 18 | | to lose his life on June 15th, 1944; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Black marines served valiantly in the Pacific | 20 | | Theatre of Operations during World War II and participated in |
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| 1 | | battles on Saipan, Guam, and Peleliu; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman | 3 | | signed Executive Order 9981 establishing the President's | 4 | | Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the | 5 | | Armed Services, committing the government to integrating the | 6 | | segregated military; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Camp Montford Point was decommissioned on | 8 | | September 9, 1949 because of improved inclusion brought forth | 9 | | by the courageous service of the Montford Point Marines; | 10 | | therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 12 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 13 | | we honor the brave marines who trained at Montford Point and | 14 | | were trailblazers who broke down barriers within the Marine | 15 | | Corps; and be it further
| 16 | | RESOLVED, That we acknowledge the Montford Point Marines | 17 | | for their heroic service and therefore declare August 26, 2021 | 18 | | Montford Point Marines Day.
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