Full Text of HR0616 95th General Assembly
HR0616 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HR0616 |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 |
| Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of
General | 4 |
| Wayne Downing of Peoria, who passed away on July 18, 2007; and
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| WHEREAS, General Wayne Downing grew up on Brons Street in | 6 |
| Peoria before joining the U.S. Army; his Army career led him to | 7 |
| Okinawa and two tours in Vietnam, where he earned two Silver | 8 |
| Stars, the Soldiers Medal, the Bronze Star with V device and | 9 |
| five oak leaf clusters, and the Purple Heart; in 1974, he was | 10 |
| picked to help reform the Army Rangers into a larger unit; | 11 |
| during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, he commanded 1,200 U.S. | 12 |
| Special Forces that halted Iraq's SCUD missile attacks and | 13 |
| eased missile threats in the war zone; and
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| WHEREAS, General Wayne Downing retired as the head of the | 15 |
| U.S. Special Operations Command in 1996; as special operations | 16 |
| commander, he was in charge of the special operations forces of | 17 |
| each service, such as the Navy's SEALs and the Army's Green | 18 |
| Berets, approximately 47,000 troops total; after his | 19 |
| retirement, he was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame, | 20 |
| credited with creating "operations and organization documents | 21 |
| and standardized tactical operations and training for the | 22 |
| future Ranger force"; and
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HR0616 |
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| WHEREAS, Weeks after the World Trade Center was destroyed, | 2 |
| General Wayne Downing was asked by President George W. Bush to | 3 |
| come out of retirement and serve as his principal adviser on | 4 |
| efforts to detect, disrupt, and destroy international | 5 |
| terrorist groups and their support networks; he served in that | 6 |
| capacity for nine months before retiring again; and
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| WHEREAS, General Wayne Downing will be remembered by all | 8 |
| who knew him as a highly respected and highly capable soldier | 9 |
| and family man whose professionalism and courage were | 10 |
| unmatched; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 12 |
| NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 13 |
| mourn, along with his family and friends, the passing of | 14 |
| General Wayne Downing; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That we honor the memory of General Wayne Downing | 16 |
| and his willingness to serve our country with bravery and | 17 |
| distinction; and be it further | 18 |
| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 19 |
| presented to the family of General Wayne Downing as an | 20 |
| expression of our sympathy.
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