Full Text of HR0290 98th General Assembly
HR0290 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Capt. William Albracht served as the senior ground | 3 | | commander at Firebase Kate, a fortified position in the Central | 4 | | Highlands of South Vietnam near the Cambodian border, and was | 5 | | tasked with interdicting North Vietnamese Army (NVA) movements | 6 | | along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and restricting the enemy's ability | 7 | | to attack Special Forces camps in the area; by late October | 8 | | 1969, about 5,000 NVA troops had surrounded the firebase and | 9 | | were preparing to attack; Capt. Albracht and fellow Special | 10 | | Forces soldier Sgt. Daniel Pierelli prepared the troops for the | 11 | | inevitable battle, which finally began on October 28, 1969; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The NVA began its siege of Firebase Kate on the | 13 | | night of October 28, when a Civilian Irregular Defense Group | 14 | | patrol ran into the forward elements of an NVA regiment; the | 15 | | NVA troops, who outnumbered Kate's defenders by about 40 to | 16 | | one, launched their first assault around 11:30 the next | 17 | | morning; NVA troops mercilessly attacked Firebase Kate with | 18 | | small arms fire, mortars, artillery, and B-40 rockets, but | 19 | | Kate's defenders drove them off; despite the valiant efforts of | 20 | | the defenders at Kate, NVA attacks were slowly wearing them | 21 | | down; Capt. William Albracht, wounded during the attack on | 22 | | October 29, chose to stay at Kate to lead the remaining | 23 | | besieged troops during the assaults; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Seeing that his position was untenable, Capt. | 2 | | William Albracht radioed Special Forces Operations and | 3 | | requested permission to escape from Firebase Kate with his | 4 | | soldiers; after obtaining permission from his superiors, he | 5 | | decided to make his escape on November 1; Capt. Albracht and | 6 | | Sgt. Pierelli drew up an escape-and-evasion plan, arranged for | 7 | | gunships to protect them as they left Kate, and explained | 8 | | carefully to the troops how they would link up with a Special | 9 | | Forces detachment waiting for them in a concealed position | 10 | | about 3 miles away; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, After sabotaging everything at the base that could | 12 | | be used by the NVA, Capt. William Albracht and his soldiers | 13 | | began their trek at about 10 P.M. on November 1, 1969, knowing | 14 | | that the NVA would be looking for them and would not take | 15 | | prisoners; the NVA immediately lit the area with flares as the | 16 | | men fled down the North Slope, through a small gap in the wood | 17 | | line, and up the side of Ambush Hill; after dodging NVA patrols | 18 | | and ambushes, Capt. Albracht and his men reached Mike Force at | 19 | | 3 A.M. on November 2, 1969; During the final evacuation, Capt. | 20 | | Albracht wound up crossing the open field three times, on each | 21 | | occasion exposing himself to the enemy, to make sure his men | 22 | | were safe; and
| 23 | | WHEREAS, Capt. William Albracht has been the recipient of 3 | 24 | | Silver Stars, 3 Purple Hearts, 5 Bronze Stars (3 for valor), 2 |
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| 1 | | Air Medals (one for valor), and an Army Commendation Medal (for | 2 | | valor), but was not
awarded the Medal of Honor for his | 3 | | courageous acts at Firebase
Kate:; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, The members of this body believe that the
| 5 | | gallantry displayed by Captain William Albracht on those | 6 | | fateful days
deserves to be further reviewed by the Department | 7 | | of the Army and
the Department of Defense in order to determine | 8 | | if his actions are
worthy of this nation's highest military | 9 | | honor; therefore, be it
| 10 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 11 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 12 | | we urge Congress, the Department of
the Army, and the | 13 | | Department of Defense to again review Captain
Albracht's heroic | 14 | | actions at Firebase Kate and, if warranted, upgrade
the Silver | 15 | | Star bestowed on him for those actions to the Medal of
Honor; | 16 | | and be it further
| 17 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 18 | | presented to the President, the Speaker and Minority Leader of | 19 | | the United States House of Representatives, and the Majority | 20 | | and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate.
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