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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, On November 4, 1943, members of the American | ||||||
| 3 | Legion met at the Luther B. Easley
Post 128 in Salem; at this | ||||||
| 4 | meeting, the G.I. Bill of Rights
(officially known as the | ||||||
| 5 | Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944) was "born" to assist | ||||||
| 6 | veterans of
active service in the U.S. Armed Forces during | ||||||
| 7 | World War II; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, The G.I. Bill of Rights was drafted by Omar J. | ||||||
| 9 | McMackin of Salem, Earl W. Merritt of Salem, former Governor | ||||||
| 10 | John Stelle of McLeansboro, Dr. Leonard W. Esper of | ||||||
| 11 | Springfield, George
H. Bauer of Effingham, William R. McCauley | ||||||
| 12 | of Olney, James P. Ringley of Lemont, and A. L. Starshak
of | ||||||
| 13 | Chicago; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, The plan, originally written down as ideas on | ||||||
| 15 | napkins in Salem, eventually became
legislation passed by the | ||||||
| 16 | U.S. Senate on June 12, 1944 and the U.S. House of | ||||||
| 17 | Representatives on
June 13, 1944; it was signed into law by | ||||||
| 18 | President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on June 22,
1944; and
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| 19 | WHEREAS, There were several key components of the G.I. Bill | ||||||
| 20 | of Rights that included educational
opportunity, vocational | ||||||
| 21 | on-the-job training, readjustment financial allowances, home, | ||||||
| 22 | farm, and
business loans, a review of discharges, adequate | ||||||
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| 1 | health care for veterans, the prompt
settlement of disability | ||||||
| 2 | claims, mustering-out pay (which was removed from the bill | ||||||
| 3 | after it was
enacted separately), effective veteran employment | ||||||
| 4 | services, and the concentration of all
veterans functions in | ||||||
| 5 | the Veterans Administration; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, On June 26, 1958, the American Legion - Department | ||||||
| 7 | of Illinois recognized with a
citation stating "That All Men | ||||||
| 8 | will now recognize the Luther B. Easley Post 128 as the | ||||||
| 9 | Birthplace
of the G.I. Bill of Rights"; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, This historic piece of legislation is a fine | ||||||
| 11 | example of things to recognize as being born,
built, or grown | ||||||
| 12 | in Illinois as part of the Illinois bicentennial; therefore, be | ||||||
| 13 | it
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| 14 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 15 | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | ||||||
| 16 | recognize November 4, 2018 as the
75th anniversary of the | ||||||
| 17 | "birth" of the G.I. Bill of Rights (officially known as the | ||||||
| 18 | Servicemen's
Readjustment Act of 1944) at the Luther B. Easley | ||||||
| 19 | Post 128 of the American Legion in Salem; and be it further
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| 20 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
| 21 | presented to Commander Harold Kocher of
the Luther B. Easley | ||||||
| 22 | Post No. 128, and all other American Legion post commanders | ||||||
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| 1 | with
members involved in this historic meeting, as a symbol of | ||||||
| 2 | our esteem and respect.
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