HJ0103 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0103 LRB097 23415 GRL 72296 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Korean War has played an important part in American history; the veterans of the Korean War have earned the respect and admiration of all people; and

WHEREAS, An armed conflict that began in June of 1950 and ended in July of 1953, the Korean War exacted a heavy toll; 33,629 Americans were killed in action and 20,617 died of injuries or disease; and

WHEREAS, The Korean War began when the United Nations urged its members to repel the Communist aggressors in Korea; in July of 1950, the UN Security Council recommended that all member nations contributing to the defense of South Korea make their troops available to a unified command headed by the United States; and

WHEREAS, It is appropriate for us to remember the many sacrifices and contributions to the cause of freedom made by the outstanding men and women who served in the Korean War; and

WHEREAS, The date of June 25, 2010 commemorates the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War; July 17, 2013 will mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended the conflict; and

WHEREAS, William G. Windrich, James I. Poynter, Lester Hammond, John E. Kilmer, Louis J. Sebille, William F. Dean, Edward C. Krzyzowski, and Richard G. Wilson, all of whom hailed from Illinois, were awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroic actions during the Korean War; and

WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant William Gordon Windrich was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his outstanding heroism as a platoon sergeant during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir; and

WHEREAS, William Windrich was born on May 14, 1921 in Chicago; he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on June 6, 1938, and was ordered to active duty in November of 1940; and

WHEREAS, During World War II, William Windrich spent 20 months overseas in the south and central Pacific as a machine gunner with the 2nd and 5th Defense Battalions; after his discharge in November of 1945, he reenlisted in the United States Marine Corps in February of 1946; and

WHEREAS, At the outbreak of the Korean War, SSgt. Windrich was on military police chief duty at Camp Pendleton in California; he subsequently went overseas with the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade and was among the first Marines to see action in Korea; he also participated in the Inchon landing and in the capture of Seoul; and

WHEREAS, SSgt. Windrich was killed in action the early morning of December 2, 1950, near Yudam-ni, North Korea, during a savage night battle with Chinese communist forces on Hill 1520; he refused to be evacuated, even after being wounded twice, once when a grenade fragment ripped through his helmet and later when he was felled by gunshot wounds in the legs; instead, he directed his men in setting up defensive positions and shouted words of encouragement until he succumbed to his wounds and the bitter cold; and

WHEREAS, The Medal of Honor, the United States' highest award for valor in combat, was presented to SSgt. Windrich's widow by Secretary of the Navy Daniel A. Kimball during ceremonies on February 8, 1952; he is now buried at Arlington National Cemetery; and

WHEREAS, Sergeant James Irsley Poynter was born on December 1, 1916 in Bloomington; he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in February of 1942; and

WHEREAS, James Poynter fought in the Pacific theatre during World War II and participated in the Guadalcanal, Southern Solomons, Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa campaigns; he was discharged in February of 1946; and

WHEREAS, At the beginning of the Korean War, Sgt. Poynter re-enlisted in the Marine Corps and joined the Marine Corps Reserve 13th Infantry Battalion in Los Angeles on July 19, 1950; he arrived in Korea in time to aid in the recapture of Seoul after the Inchon landing; and

WHEREAS, Sgt. Poynter was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for "outstanding leadership, ability and courageous aggressiveness against the enemy" as a squad leader during actions on September 24 to October 4, 1950; and

WHEREAS, On November 4, 1950, Sgt. Poynter served as squad leader of Company A of the 7th Marine Regiment; while defending Hill 532, south of Sudong, Korea, he was wounded in hand-to-hand combat; in spite of his wounds, upon seeing 3 machine guns setting up only 25 yards away, he charged the enemy position with hand grenades from fallen comrades; he was able to take out all 3 machine gun crews by sacrificing his own life; and

WHEREAS, Sgt. Poynter's heroic actions enabled his outnumbered platoon to beat off the enemy assault and move to more defensible positions; he was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on November 4, 1950, and was buried with full military honors in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California; and

WHEREAS, Corporal Lester Hammond, Jr. was born on March 25, 1931, in Wayland, Missouri, and entered service in Quincy; he served as a radio operator with Company A of the United States Army's 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team; and

WHEREAS, Cpl. Hammond was serving with the 187th near Kumhwa, Korea, on August 14, 1952; the combat team had penetrated about 3,500 yards into enemy-held territory when the small American patrol was ambushed and surrounded by a larger enemy force; the team fought its way up a narrow ravine in search of cover; Hammond was wounded during the initial exchange of gunfire, but remained in the open so he could call in artillery fire that helped repulse several enemy attacks; and

WHEREAS, Despite being wounded a second time, Cpl. Hammond continued to direct the artillery fire until a friendly platoon was able to reach his patrol and help them withdraw; Cpl. Hammond died from his injuries, but the members of his patrol owed him their lives for the heroic decisions he made that day; and

WHEREAS, Cpl. Lester Hammond Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in combat for his actions on August 14, 1952; after his initial burial in Quincy's Greenmount Cemetery, his casket was moved to Sunset Cemetery at the Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy in 1983; and

WHEREAS, John Edward Kilmer was born on August 15, 1930, in Highland Park; he enlisted in the United States Navy on August 16, 1947 as an apprentice seaman, and attended the Hospital Corps School in San Diego, California; after graduating in April of 1948, he was promoted to the rank of hospitalman apprentice; he was subsequently promoted to the rank of hospitalman on September 1, 1950; and

WHEREAS, Hospitalman Kilmer was assigned to the hospital ship USS Repose (AH-16) when war broke out in Korea; after his enlistment term expired in August of 1951, he soon rejoined the Navy and joined the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, Fleet Marine Forces after completing instruction at the Field Medical School at Camp Pendleton, California; and

WHEREAS, On August 12, 1952, Hospitalman Kilmer took part in the attack on "Bunker Hill" in Korea; he attended to the wounded during the battle and was himself mortally wounded after using his body to shield another man from enemy fire; for this action, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor; and

WHEREAS, On June 18, 1953, Hospitalman Kilmer's mother, Lois Kilmer, was presented with her son's Medal of Honor by Secretary of the Navy Robert Bernard Anderson; he was buried in San Jose Burial Park, San Antonio, Texas, with full military honors; and

WHEREAS, Louis Joseph "Lou" Sebille was born on November 21, 1915, in Harbor Beach, Michigan; he attended Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan; after his graduation, he moved to Chicago in the 1930s; and

WHEREAS, Louis Sebille enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps several days after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor; and

WHEREAS, Louis Sebille flew 68 combat missions during World War II as a B-26 bomber pilot; in the fall of 1948, he became the commanding officer of the 67th Squadron of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Group; after the Korean War began, his squadron was one of the first to be sent to Japan; and

WHEREAS, On August 5, 1950, during a close air support mission, anti-aircraft fire damaged Louis Sebille's F-51; rather than abandon his aircraft, he continued his attack under heavy fire; after his aircraft was again damaged, he dove to his death onto the enemy gun battery; and

WHEREAS, Louis Sebille was formally awarded the Medal of Honor in a ceremony at March Air Force Base in Riverside County, California, in late August of 1951; General Hoyt Vandenberg, the United States Air Force Chief of Staff, presented the medal to Sebille's widowed wife and 19 month old son; Sebille was buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park with full military honors; and

WHEREAS, Louis Sebille was the first person in the Air Force to be awarded the medal since the branch's creation in 1947; only 4 Air Force personnel would win the medal for action during the Korean War, all of them posthumously; and

WHEREAS, William Frishe Dean, Sr. was born on August 1, 1899, in Carlyle; and

WHEREAS, William Dean graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1922; after being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the California National Guard in 1921, he was tendered a regular Army commission on October 18, 1923; he was subsequently promoted to brigadier general in 1942 and then to major general in 1943; he later served first as assistant division commander and later as division commander of the 44th Infantry Division; and

WHEREAS, In 1944, while serving in southern Germany and Austria, Major General Dean's troops captured 30,000 prisoners and helped force the surrender of the German 19th Army; he won the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery during that action; and

WHEREAS, In October of 1947, Major General Dean became the military governor of South Korea; in 1948, he took command of the 7th Infantry Division and moved it from Korea to Japan; and

WHEREAS, After serving as chief of staff of the U.S. 8th Army, Major General Dean took command of the 24th Infantry Division, then headquartered at Kokura on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, in October of 1949; when the Korean War began in June of 1950, the 24th Infantry Division was the first American ground combat unit to be committed; and

WHEREAS, Major General Dean arrived in Korea on July 3, 1950, and established his headquarters at Taejon; his orders were to fight a delaying action against the advancing North Korean People's Army; and

WHEREAS, Although he planned to withdraw from Taejon, Major General Dean was asked by General Walton H. Walker, the commander of the U.S. 8th Army, to hold that city until July 20, 1950, in order to buy time necessary for deploying other American units from Japan; his regiments had been decimated in earlier fighting, and Dean personally led tank killer teams armed with the newly arrived 3.5-inch rocket launchers to destroy the attacking North Korean T-34 tanks; he gained acclaim through exploits such as attacking and destroying an enemy tank armed with only a hand grenade and a handgun; and

WHEREAS, On July 20, 1950, as his division fell back from Taejon, Major General Dean became separated from his men, forcing him to travel alone in the woods around the countryside during the day and traveling at night for over a month; on August 25, 1950, after a hand to hand struggle with 15 North Koreans, he was captured; he remained a POW with the North Koreans until his release on September 4, 1953; and

WHEREAS, In 1951, Congress voted to bestow the Medal of Honor to Major General Dean for his actions during the defense of Taejon; on January 9, 1951, the medal was given to his wife, Mildred Dean, his son, William Dean Jr., and his daughter, Marjorie June Dean, by President Harry Truman; Major General Dean was still reported missing in action in Korea; and

WHEREAS, After the July 27, 1953 Armistice Agreement, Major General Dean remained in North Korea as a prisoner of war for several more months while the armistice was finalized; he was returned to UN forces at Panmunjom during Operation Big Switch on September 4, 1953; and

WHEREAS, Three months after his return from Korea, Major General Dean was assigned as the Deputy Commanding General of the United States 6th Army at the Presidio of San Francisco in California; he held this post for 2 years until his retirement from active duty on October 31, 1955; upon retirement, he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge for his front line service in World War II and Korea; and

WHEREAS, Major General Dean lived a quiet life in San Francisco after his retirement, and died on August 24, 1981, at the age of 82; he was buried in San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio of San Francisco, next to his wife; and

WHEREAS, Edward C. Krzyzowski was born on January 16, 1914, in Chicago; he served as a captain in the United States Army's Company B, 9th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division; and

WHEREAS, Captain Krzyzowski was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his service near Tondul, Korea from August 31 to September 3, 1951; and

WHEREAS, Captain Krzyzowski distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy as commanding officer of Company B; spearheading an assault against strongly defended Hill 700, his company came under vicious crossfire and grenade attack from enemy bunkers; creeping up the fire-swept hill, he personally eliminated one bunker with his grenades and wiped out a second with carbine fire; forced to retire to more tenable positions for the night, his company resumed the attack the following day, gaining several hundred yards and inflicting numerous casualties; once overwhelmed by the numerically superior hostile force, he ordered his men to evacuate the wounded and move back; providing protective fire for their safe withdrawal, he was wounded again by grenade fragments, but refused evacuation and continued to direct the defense; and

WHEREAS, Captain Krzyzowski was buried with full military honors at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleums in Justice; and

WHEREAS, Richard Gene Wilson was born on August 19, 1931, in Marion; after his junior year, he left high school to join the Army; he enlisted on August 19, 1948, his 17th birthday, and just before leaving for Korea, he married Yvonna Lea Fowler on August 29, 1950; and

WHEREAS, Richard Wilson served in Korea as a private first class with the 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment; on October 21, 1950, he was attached to Company I when the unit was ambushed while conducting a reconnaissance in force mission near Opa-ri; and

WHEREAS, PFC Wilson exposed himself to hostile fire in order to treat the many casualties; when the company began to withdraw, he helped evacuate the wounded; after the withdrawal was complete, he learned that a soldier left behind and believed dead had been spotted trying to crawl to safety; unarmed and against the advice of his comrades, he returned to the ambush site in an attempt to rescue the wounded man; and

WHEREAS, PFC Wilson's body was found 2 days later, lying next to that of the man he had tried to save; for these actions, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on August 2, 1951; and

WHEREAS, Several U.S. military buildings have been named in PFC Wilson's honor, including the Richard G. Wilson Memorial Gymnasium in the Kanoka Barracks near Osaka, Japan; the Richard G. Wilson U.S. Army Reserve Center in Marion; the PFC Richard G. Wilson Training Barracks at Fort Sam Houston, Texas; the Richard G. Wilson Consolidated Troop Medical Clinic in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; and the Wilson Theater in Fort Campbell, Kentucky; among the memorials in his honor are "America's Medical Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen in Peace and War" by Eloise Engle (1967) and a memorial to Wilson in Cape County Park (1988); other structures named for him include the Richard G. Wilson Elementary School in Fort Benning, Georgia, and a postal distribution center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; and

WHEREAS, Illinois Route 136 is an east-west road in northwestern Illinois; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate Illinois Route 136 as the Illinois Korean War Medal of Honor Highway in honor of the memory and sacrifices of William G. Windrich, James I. Poynter, Lester Hammond, John E. Kilmer, Louis J. Sebille, William F. Dean, Edward C. Krzyzowski, and Richard G. Wilson; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs giving notice of the name of the Illinois Korean War Medal of Honor Highway; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation, the families of William G. Windrich, James I. Poynter, Lester Hammond, John E. Kilmer, Louis J. Sebille, William F. Dean, Edward C. Krzyzowski, and Richard G. Wilson, and Hershall E. Lee, KW60 Ambassador of the United States Department of Defense.