Full Text of SJR0034 102nd General Assembly
SJ0034 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The Korean War began on June 25, 1950 and raged | 3 | | for three bloody years; 1.5 million
members of the United | 4 | | States Armed Forces, including thousands from the State of | 5 | | Illinois, answered the call to arms
during the war; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, The President of the United States may present | 7 | | Congressional Gold Medals to Korean War veterans in
| 8 | | recognition of their contributions while serving under the | 9 | | United Nations Command (UNC), which was the first | 10 | | international unified command in history; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, The purpose of the medals are to express | 12 | | recognition of the exemplary contributions
made by all Korean | 13 | | War veterans, both U.S. and allied forces, who
demonstrated | 14 | | selfless acts during the conflict; and | 15 | | WHEREAS, The Empire of Japan occupied the entire country | 16 | | of Korea from 1910 until the end of
World War II; prior to the | 17 | | official Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, the
U.S. and | 18 | | its allies prepared an arrangement to divide Korea | 19 | | horizontally into two regions, North and
South; and | 20 | | WHEREAS, On June 25, 1950, the North Korea Peoples' Army | 21 | | and their allies invaded South
Korea; the U.N. Security |
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| 1 | | Council adopted a resolution to send U.N. Forces into Korea; | 2 | | on June 27, 1950, President Truman sent U.S. troops as aid | 3 | | under the aegis of the United
Nations; in October 1950, the | 4 | | Peoples Volunteer Army of China entered the conflict by
| 5 | | encroaching into North Korea; in response, China's ruling | 6 | | party ordered the
immediate destruction of the entire 1st | 7 | | Marine Division, the Republic of Korea Army Divisions,
and the | 8 | | U.S. Army's 7th Infantry Division, which led to the struggle | 9 | | to defend the Pusan Perimeter; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, A series of battles against the Chinese forces | 11 | | took place throughout autumn 1950,
including the Battle of | 12 | | Inchon, the Battle of Naktong breakout, the Battle of | 13 | | Seoul-Second, and
the Battle of Changjin Reservoir, which | 14 | | tested the capacity of U.S. and allied forces against both the | 15 | | enemy and
the elements; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, On November 25, 1950, Chinese communist forces | 17 | | launched an all-out assault,
swiftly overtaking the UNC forces | 18 | | and forcing U.S. and UNC allied troops to withdraw south; | 19 | | battles against the communist forces continued throughout | 20 | | 1951, including the Battle of
Seoul-Fourth, by far the largest | 21 | | artillery operation of the Korean conflict; during this time, | 22 | | U.N. allied forces from countries such as Australia, the
| 23 | | Philippines, and parts of the United Kingdom assisted in | 24 | | combatting the Chinese communist forces; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, By 1953, at least another dozen battles took | 2 | | place in an attempt to retake South Korea; the ground
action | 3 | | was led by U.S. and allied forces; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, On July 27, 1953, the United States, North Korea, | 5 | | and China signed an armistice
agreement that ended the | 6 | | conflict and created the demilitarized zone (DMZ), again | 7 | | dividing Korea
but failing to bring about peace; to date, the | 8 | | Republic of Korea (South Korea)
and the Democratic Peoples' | 9 | | Republic of Korea (North Korea) have not signed a peace treaty | 10 | | that
would officially end the war; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, One of two principle objectives was to not lose | 12 | | the war to the aggressors and the
other was to keep Seoul, | 13 | | South Korea from occupation by the Democratic Peoples' | 14 | | Republic of
Korea to the north; American combat troops and | 15 | | allied forces from 16 nations helped secure
this mission; | 16 | | today, Seoul's vibrancy is possible because of those who | 17 | | served and sacrificed; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, It is the appropriate time for America to honor | 19 | | the troops, including all United
Nations allied forces during | 20 | | the Korean conflict, and to
award them the Congressional Gold | 21 | | Medal; it is appropriate that these medals stand as evidence | 22 | | that
The Forgotten War is no longer forgotten, but forever |
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| 1 | | remembered; therefore, be it
| 2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 3 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF | 4 | | REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that we urge Congress to | 5 | | authorize the President to present Congressional Gold Medals | 6 | | to Korean War Veterans in recognition of their service and | 7 | | sacrifice; and be it further | 8 | | RESOLVED, That following the awarding of the medals, we | 9 | | urge that one Congressional Gold Medal be given to the | 10 | | Smithsonian Institution and one Congressional Silver Medal be | 11 | | given to the War
Memorial of Korea, Seoul, where they shall be | 12 | | available for display as appropriate and made
available for | 13 | | research; and be it further | 14 | | RESOLVED, That we recognize and honor the
service and | 15 | | sacrifice of all Korean War veterans, the brave men and women | 16 | | who
served honorably and those who paid the ultimate price | 17 | | defending our freedom; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 19 | | delivered to President Joe Biden, U.S. Senate Majority Leader | 20 | | Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, | 21 | | U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House of | 22 | | Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and all |
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| 1 | | members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation.
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