Full Text of HJR0013 99th General Assembly
HJ0013eng 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 13
| 2 | | WHEREAS, It is highly fitting that the Illinois General | 3 | | Assembly pays honor and respect to the truly great individuals | 4 | | who served our country and in doing so have gone above and | 5 | | beyond the call of duty to take part in truly heroic tasks; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Christian Frank Schilt was born March 19, 1895 in | 7 | | Richland County; he enlisted in the Marine Corps on June 23, | 8 | | 1917, and, as an enlisted man, he served at Ponta Delgada, in | 9 | | the Azores, with the 1st Marine Aeronautical Company, a | 10 | | seaplane squadron assigned to anti-submarine patrol during | 11 | | World War I; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Returning to the United States as a corporal, | 13 | | Christian Schilt entered flight training and was commissioned a | 14 | | second lieutenant on June 10, 1919; in October of that year, he | 15 | | began his first tour of expeditionary duty in Santo Domingo | 16 | | that was followed with an assignment at Port-au-Prince, Haiti | 17 | | the following August; in March of 1921, he was assigned to make | 18 | | an aerial survey and mosaic map of the coast line of the | 19 | | Dominican Republic; in November of 1926, he won second place in | 20 | | the Schneider International Seaplane Race at Norfolk flying a | 21 | | special Curtiss racer at a speed of 231.3 mph (372.2 km/h) over | 22 | | 7 laps of a triangular 50 km course; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In November of 1927, now 1st Lieutenant Schilt was | 2 | | ordered to Managua, Nicaragua, where he joined Observation | 3 | | Squadron 7-M; the political climate in Nicaragua had rapidly | 4 | | changed during the summer of 1927 when Augusto C. Sandino and | 5 | | his followers, the Sandinistas, revolted against Nicaragua's | 6 | | Chamorro government; and | 7 | | WHEREAS, The Sandinistas established their base on the | 8 | | Honduran border of northern Nicaragua; in December of 1927, | 9 | | Sandino with 1,000 men ambushed an American Marine detachment | 10 | | of 175 men, killing 8 and wounding 30; the marines fell back to | 11 | | Quilali where the Sandinistas lay siege to the village; with | 12 | | little hope of a breakout, plans were made for an air rescue; | 13 | | the marines in Quilali built a make-shift airstrip by burning | 14 | | and leveling part of the town to expand Quilali's main street | 15 | | from 100 to 500 feet; Observation Squadron 7 modified an O-2U-1 | 16 | | Vought Corsair biplane with landing gear from a DeHavilland | 17 | | DH-4 for the expected hard landings; and | 18 | | WHEREAS, As if oblivious to the cramped space he was | 19 | | entering, between January 6 and 8, 1928, Lt. Schilt took his | 20 | | Corsair on 10 trips into the embattled village, hauling in | 21 | | 1,400 pounds of medical supplies and evacuating 18 of the | 22 | | wounded Marines; since his O2U had no brakes, the marines on | 23 | | the ground stopped the biplane by grabbing the wings when it | 24 | | touched down; hostile fire on landings and take-offs, plus |
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| 1 | | low-hanging clouds, mountains, and tricky air currents, added | 2 | | to the difficulty of the flights; he was awarded the Medal of | 3 | | Honor for his flying skill combined with personal courage | 4 | | during the rescue of the Quilali Marines; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Christian Schilt continued his military career | 6 | | serving in both World War II and Korea; during World War II, he | 7 | | participated in the Guadalcanal campaign, the consolidation of | 8 | | Southern Solomons, and the air defense of Peleliu and Okinawa | 9 | | earning the Legion of Merit with Combat "V", the Distinguished | 10 | | Flying Cross, the Bronze Star with Combat "V" and 4 Air Medals; | 11 | | in Korea, he commanded the 1st U.S. Marine Corps Aircraft Wing | 12 | | from July of 1951 to April of 1952 earning the U.S. Air Force | 13 | | Distinguished Service Medal and his fifth Air Medal; he retired | 14 | | from the Marine Corps on April 1, 1957 when he was promoted to | 15 | | full general; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, General Schilt passed away on January 8, 1987 at | 17 | | age 91, in Norfolk, Virginia, and was buried with honors in | 18 | | Arlington National Cemetery; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, On October 21, 2011, a new headquarters building | 20 | | at the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point, North Carolina | 21 | | was named in honor of General Schilt as a constant reminder of | 22 | | the example he set; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, It is highly fitting that the State of Illinois | 2 | | honor the memory and example set by Marine Aviator General | 3 | | Christian F. Schilt; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 6 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate the section of U.S. | 7 | | Highway 50 from Illinois Route 130 East to Ste. Marie Road at | 8 | | Olney as the "Marine Aviator General Christian F. Schilt | 9 | | Memorial Highway"; and be it further | 10 | | RESOLVED, That upon completion of any unfinished sections | 11 | | of highway, the Illinois Department of Transportation is | 12 | | requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with State | 13 | | and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs giving | 14 | | notice of the name; and be it further
| 15 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 16 | | presented to the family of General Christian F. Schilt, the | 17 | | Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the | 18 | | Mayor of Olney.
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