Full Text of SR0036 096th General Assembly
SR0036 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 |
| learn of the death of Marine Lieutenant General Victor "Brute" | 4 |
| Krulak, who passed away on December 29, 2008; and
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| WHEREAS, In a career that spanned three decades, Lieutenant | 6 |
| General Krulak displayed bravery during combat and brilliance | 7 |
| as a tactician and organizer of troops; he was born in Denver, | 8 |
| Colorado, on January 7, 1913, and was a 1934 graduate of the | 9 |
| Naval Academy, where he picked up his nickname, a jest on the | 10 |
| fact he was 5-foot-4; and
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| WHEREAS, As a junior officer he served in Marine actions in | 12 |
| Central America; in World War II, as a lieutenant colonel, he | 13 |
| led a battalion in a week-long battle as a diversionary raid to | 14 |
| cover the invasion of Bougainville in the South Pacific; | 15 |
| although wounded, he refused to be evacuated and was awarded | 16 |
| the Navy Cross; under heavy fire from the Japanese, the Navy | 17 |
| sent patrol boats to evacuate wounded Marines; Lieutenant | 18 |
| General Krulak befriended one of the young commanders, John F. | 19 |
| Kennedy, and decades later he drank whiskey in the Oval Office | 20 |
| with President Kennedy; and
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| WHEREAS, After World War II, Lieutenant General Krulak held | 22 |
| several key jobs, including commander of the 5th Marine |
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| Regiment and then as chief of staff to the 1st Marine Division | 2 |
| during the war in Korea; he later served as commander of the | 3 |
| Marine boot camp in San Diego and, from 1962 to 1964, as | 4 |
| special assistant for counterinsurgency to the Joint Chiefs of | 5 |
| Staff; as commanding general of Fleet Marine Force Pacific, he | 6 |
| made 54 trips to Vietnam; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1984 his book, "First to Fight: An Inside View | 8 |
| of the U.S. Marine Corps" was published, examining the history | 9 |
| and culture of the Marine Corps; it remains on the official | 10 |
| reading list for Marines and has been said to carry the DNA of | 11 |
| the organization that prides itself on being the worst enemy | 12 |
| that a foe of the United States can imagine; and
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| WHEREAS,
All three of his sons served in Vietnam: Charles | 14 |
| and William as Marine infantry officers and Victor Jr. as a | 15 |
| Navy chaplain; after retiring from the Marines, William Krulak | 16 |
| followed his brother into the Episcopal clergy;
Charles Krulak, | 17 |
| as a general, served as Marine commandant from 1995 to 1999, | 18 |
| and followed in his father's footsteps as an innovator and | 19 |
| champion of the enlisted man; along with his sons, Lieutenant | 20 |
| General Krulak is survived by four grandchildren and 10 | 21 |
| great-grandchildren;
Lieutenant General Krulak's wife, Amy, | 22 |
| passed away in 2001; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL |
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| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn, along with | 2 |
| family, friends, and a grateful nation, the passing of Marine | 3 |
| Lieutenant General Victor "Brute" Krulak; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 5 |
| presented to the family of Marine Lieutenant General Victor | 6 |
| "Brute" Krulak as a symbol of our sympathy and respect.
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