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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The Vietnam War was fought in Vietnam from 1961 to | ||||||
| 3 | 1975, and involved North Vietnam and the Viet Cong in conflict | ||||||
| 4 | with the United States Armed Forces and South Vietnam; and | ||||||
| 5 | WHEREAS, The United States became involved by serving in an | ||||||
| 6 | advisory role to the South Vietnamese in 1961; and | ||||||
| 7 | WHEREAS, In 1965, United States Armed Forces ground combat | ||||||
| 8 | units arrived in Vietnam and by the end of that year there were | ||||||
| 9 | 80,000 United States troops in Vietnam with a peak of | ||||||
| 10 | approximately 500,000 troops in 1969; and | ||||||
| 11 | WHEREAS, On January 27, 1973, the Treaty of Paris was | ||||||
| 12 | signed, which required the release of all United States | ||||||
| 13 | prisoners-of-war held in North Vietnam and the withdrawal of | ||||||
| 14 | all United States Armed Forces from South Vietnam; by March 30, | ||||||
| 15 | 1973, the United States Armed Forces completed the withdrawal | ||||||
| 16 | of combat troops from Vietnam; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, More than 58,000 members of the United States | ||||||
| 18 | Armed Forces lost their lives in Vietnam and more than 300,000 | ||||||
| 19 | members of the Armed Forces were wounded; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was | ||||||
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| 1 | dedicated in Washington, D.C. to commemorate those members of | ||||||
| 2 | the United States Armed Forces who died or were declared | ||||||
| 3 | missing-in-action in Vietnam; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Members of the United States Armed Forces who | ||||||
| 5 | served bravely and faithfully for the United States during the | ||||||
| 6 | Vietnam War were caught upon their return home in the crossfire | ||||||
| 7 | of public debate about the involvement of the United States in | ||||||
| 8 | the Vietnam War; and | ||||||
| 9 | WHEREAS, March 30th marks the anniversary of the day that | ||||||
| 10 | combat and combat support units withdrew completely from South | ||||||
| 11 | Vietnam; and | ||||||
| 12 | WHEREAS, The Ranking Member of the United States Senate | ||||||
| 13 | Committee on Veterans' Affairs has introduced Senate | ||||||
| 14 | Resolution 55 before the 112th Congress to honor veterans who | ||||||
| 15 | served in Vietnam by designating March 30th as "Welcome Home | ||||||
| 16 | Vietnam Veterans Day"; and
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| 17 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 18 | Representatives support the United States Senate in the | ||||||
| 19 | establishment of a "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" as an | ||||||
| 20 | appropriate way to honor those members of the United States | ||||||
| 21 | Armed Forces who served in Vietnam during the Vietnam War; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 2 | Representatives agree that March 30 would be an appropriate day | ||||||
| 3 | to establish "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" in the State | ||||||
| 4 | of Illinois; therefore, be it
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| 5 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 6 | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 7 | we proclaim March 30, 2011 and March 30, 2012 as "Welcome Home | ||||||
| 8 | Vietnam Veterans Day" in the State of Illinois; and be it | ||||||
| 9 | further
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| 10 | RESOLVED, That all citizens of the State of Illinois are | ||||||
| 11 | encouraged to honor our Vietnam Veterans.
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