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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, Loren Duke Abdalla is the great-grandson of Head | ||||||
3 | Chief Running Bull of the
Yankton Sioux Tribe from South | ||||||
4 | Dakota; and | ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, Loren Duke Abdalla, who went by Duke, enlisted in | ||||||
6 | the United States Marine Corps
in October of 1943, at the age | ||||||
7 | of 18; and | ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, When Duke finished basic training he was assigned | ||||||
9 | and sent to New Caledonia, and
later reassigned to Pavuvu | ||||||
10 | Island with the First Marine Division, 1st Regiment, 1st | ||||||
11 | Battalion, A
Company, 1st Platoon, under the command of Colonel | ||||||
12 | Chesty Puller and Major Ray Davis; and | ||||||
13 | WHEREAS, After months of island training as a rifleman and | ||||||
14 | machine gunner, Duke's regiment was
given its first orders, to | ||||||
15 | invade the Island of Peleliu; on September 15, 1944, Duke's | ||||||
16 | battalion invaded Peleliu; he was stationed with his
machine | ||||||
17 | gun team and on the third day of the attack his team was pinned | ||||||
18 | down on 3 sides by
enemy fire; 3 of his comrades were struck | ||||||
19 | and he was blown back against a coral wall
which caused | ||||||
20 | shrapnel holes in both his legs and blew out his ear drums; he | ||||||
21 | survived and was one of only 6 Marines left in A Company, with | ||||||
22 | just 29 left
standing in 1st Battalion after the battle; he |
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1 | received the Purple Heart and was promoted to
Corporal, | ||||||
2 | becoming the squad leader of the 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon, A | ||||||
3 | Company; and | ||||||
4 | WHEREAS, Duke recovered in the hospital from his wounds and | ||||||
5 | returned to A Company ready
for the Battle of Okinawa, where he | ||||||
6 | would again become a hero; the Battle of Okinawa began on April | ||||||
7 | 1, 1945 and would last for 82 days until June
22nd; the First | ||||||
8 | Marine Division was ordered to relieve the 27th Army Division | ||||||
9 | near the Shuri Line
on April 29th; 1st Platoon B and C Company | ||||||
10 | were both first ordered to take the Shuri Line but
were | ||||||
11 | continually pushed back by the enemy machine gun fire; on May | ||||||
12 | 5th it was A Company's
order to take the line; the morning of | ||||||
13 | May 5th before the attack, Corporal John Brady, the 2nd | ||||||
14 | Squadron
leader, was burned by an enemy grenade and under heavy | ||||||
15 | fire; Duke became a hero again,
throwing Corporal Brady over | ||||||
16 | his shoulder and carrying him to safety before returning to his
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17 | squad of 12 marines; it was Duke's squad's order to take out | ||||||
18 | the 6 machine gun nests across the ridge;
after the 4th nest | ||||||
19 | was taken out Duke stood alone, his entire squad was either | ||||||
20 | killed or wounded; he continued to push forward and take out | ||||||
21 | the final 2 machine gun nests, while the other 2
squads worked | ||||||
22 | around the base taking out spider traps and a big gun hidden in | ||||||
23 | a cave; in clearing the ridge, Duke allowed the First Marine | ||||||
24 | Division to advance, although
many of his comrades were honored | ||||||
25 | for their bravery on that day, Duke was not recognized for
his |
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1 | action; and
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2 | WHEREAS, During Duke's tour on Okinawa he saved 2 other | ||||||
3 | men's lives; he pulled fellow
Marine H. T. Clark out of fire | ||||||
4 | when he froze at the ridge known as Three Sisters;
Duke also | ||||||
5 | pulled a war correspondent out of a shell hole while under | ||||||
6 | fire, saving his life; and
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7 | WHEREAS, Loren Duke Abdalla ended his service on February | ||||||
8 | 28, 1947 with an honorable
discharge from the United States | ||||||
9 | Marine Corp; he fought valiantly during his service in the
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10 | Pacific Theater; he was awarded the Purple Heart, saved the | ||||||
11 | lives of 3 men, and saved many
of his fellow comrades with his | ||||||
12 | brave efforts; and
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13 | WHEREAS, The family of Loren Duke Abdalla has been telling | ||||||
14 | his story from World War II
with the goal of his service being | ||||||
15 | reviewed and his actions deserving of a Medal of Honor; they
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16 | believe Duke was passed over for this award because of | ||||||
17 | discrimination against his Native
American Heritage; | ||||||
18 | therefore, be it
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19 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
20 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
21 | we urge the President of the United States and Congress to act | ||||||
22 | swiftly and review the case of Loren Duke Abdalla's actions |
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1 | during World War II, which are deserving of the Medal of Honor; | ||||||
2 | and be it further
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3 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
4 | presented to President Barack Obama, the entire Illinois
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5 | Congressional Delegation, the Speaker of the U.S. House of | ||||||
6 | Representatives John Boehner, the Minority Leader
of the U.S. | ||||||
7 | House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. Senate Majority | ||||||
8 | Leader Harry Reid, and the
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch | ||||||
9 | McConnell.
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