Full Text of HR0240 94th General Assembly
HR0240 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HR0240 |
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LRB094 11759 HSS 43903 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, During World War II, Joseph W. Sparks answered the | 3 |
| call of his country and valiantly served as a member of the | 4 |
| 477th Composite Group based at Godman Field, Kentucky; the | 5 |
| 477th Composite Group, the first all-Black Bomber-Fighter air | 6 |
| squadron in U.S. history, had four squadrons of bomber and | 7 |
| fighter planes; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Sparks graduated with the first class of | 9 |
| African Americans to be qualified as aerial radio operators at | 10 |
| Scott Field Air Base in 1944; he was also in the first class of | 11 |
| African Americans to graduate from aerial gunnery school at the | 12 |
| Yuma Arizona Air Force Base in 1944; and
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| WHEREAS, He went on training fights as a radio operator | 14 |
| with First Lieutenant Daniel James Jr. as a member of the 617th | 15 |
| Bombardment Squadron at Godman Field, Kentucky, in 1944; | 16 |
| Lieutenant James went on to become the first African-American | 17 |
| four star general; he also served with James Y. Carter who went | 18 |
| on to serve in the Illinois General Assembly and was Vehicle | 19 |
| Commissioner for the City of Chicago, Winston A. Adkins, a | 20 |
| police sergeant at 51st and Wentworth in Chicago, A.A. Rayner, | 21 |
| a former Chicago alderman and funeral director, and Charles W. | 22 |
| Diggs, who became a U.S. Congressman from Michigan; and
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| WHEREAS, As a radio operator mechanic, Sergeant Sparks | 24 |
| operated airborne transmitting and receiving equipment; he | 25 |
| sent and received messages using Morse code; he performed | 26 |
| in-flight maintenance on equipment and tune adjusted his own | 27 |
| equipment; he operated at a rate of 20 words per minute; he | 28 |
| also had two 50-caliber machine guns to operate, one on each | 29 |
| side of the B-25 bomber; and
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| WHEREAS, The squadron was initially named the 477th | 31 |
| Bombardment Group; the name was changed in June of 1945 to the |
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HR0240 |
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LRB094 11759 HSS 43903 r |
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| 477th Composite Group, when leadership of the group was handed | 2 |
| over the General B.O. Davis, Sr.; it was the first and only | 3 |
| U.S. Army installation within the continental U.S. to be | 4 |
| commanded and staffed completely by African-American | 5 |
| personnel; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Sparks went on to work with the Chicago | 7 |
| Transit Authority and was honored for 31 years of public | 8 |
| service as a bus driver and for his volunteer work in the | 9 |
| Englewood Community as Chairman of the 7th Police District | 10 |
| Youth Corps; he drove streetcar #7213, Chicago's last | 11 |
| streetcar, during the mid-1950s; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 13 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 14 |
| we honor Joseph W. Sparks for his service as a member of the | 15 |
| 477th Composite Group during World War II, for his many years | 16 |
| of public and community service, and for his efforts to educate | 17 |
| Americans on the 477th Composite Group; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 |
| presented to Mr. Sparks as an expression of our sincerest | 20 |
| respect and esteem.
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