Full Text of HR1166 099th General Assembly
HR1166 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are pleased to congratulate Norman Wilke on the | 4 | | occasion of being named 2016 Veteran of the Year by the Shiloh | 5 | | Spurs; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Norman Wilke, a farm boy from the small town of | 7 | | St. Libory, joined the United States Army on November 4, 1952 | 8 | | at the age of 20 to serve his country during the Korean War; | 9 | | and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, After four months of boot camp infantry training | 11 | | at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, Norman Wilke was shipped out to | 12 | | Camp Omiya, where he had surgery on his shoulder after being | 13 | | knocked out of his bunk during a rough storm on the voyage; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, A chance meeting with a friend from home persuaded | 15 | | Norman Wilke to join the 4th Platoon, where his primary duty | 16 | | became Graves Registration, which was collecting the bodies of | 17 | | dead soldiers and civilian American citizens, embalming their | 18 | | bodies, and preparing them to ship home; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Norman Wilke, along with five other platoon | 20 | | members, once had to climb Mount Fuji on foot to retrieve the | 21 | | bodies of American soldiers who died in a plane crash; after |
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| 1 | | conditions were too foggy for the helicopter that would | 2 | | retrieve them to land, he and his company had to stay on the | 3 | | mountain overnight and sleep in the body bags they brought with | 4 | | them; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Norman Wilke prepared an average of 20 to 30 | 6 | | bodies a day, with many more during certain battles; the | 7 | | hardest part of his job was preparing the body of someone he | 8 | | knew; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, While Norman Wilke's job was sometimes | 10 | | heart-wrenching, he felt proud to perform this important job | 11 | | and felt he was honoring those who died for our country by | 12 | | respectfully preparing them for their final journey home; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, After serving two years in the 31st Infantry | 14 | | Division, 4th Platoon as the 114th Graves Registration | 15 | | Quartermaster, Norman Wilke left the Army in 1954 to return | 16 | | home and marry his sweetheart, Dorothy; in 1960, he founded the | 17 | | Wilke Window and Door Company, which has since become the | 18 | | largest window and door showroom in the Metro St. Louis area, | 19 | | as well as Norm's Bargain Bin and Lifestyle Kitchen and Baths; | 20 | | therefore, be it
| 21 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 22 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we |
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| 1 | | congratulate Norman Wilke on the occasion of being named 2016 | 2 | | Veteran of the Year and thank him for his service; and be it | 3 | | further
| 4 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 | | presented to Norman Wilke as an expression of our esteem and | 6 | | respect.
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