Bill Text: CA SCR40 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Korean War Armistice Day.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 51-23)
Status: (Passed) 2013-08-20 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 80, Statutes of 2013. [SCR40 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SCR40-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SCR 40 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 80
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 20, 2013
ADOPTED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2013
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 3, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 3, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hueso
(Coauthors: Senators Anderson, Corbett, Evans, and Wyland)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Quirk-Silva, Alejo, Allen, Atkins,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly,
Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia,
Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall,
Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder,
Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell,
Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, John A.
Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, and Yamada)
MAY 6, 2013
Relative to Korean War Armistice Day.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 40, Hueso. Korean War Armistice Day.
This measure would proclaim July 27, 2013, as Korean War Armistice
Day. It would urge Californians to observe the anniversary and call
upon them to honor and give thanks to Korean War veterans. It would
also urge Governor Jerry Brown to proclaim July 27, 2013, as Korean
War Armistice Day and instruct all state departments, agencies,
interest groups, organizations, and individuals to fly the United
States flag at half-mast on July 27, 2013, in memory of veterans from
this state who died as a result of their service in Korea.
WHEREAS, The peoples of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the State
of California have maintained close ties since September 9, 1945,
when Colonel Roy A. Green, a Sacramentan commanding the California
National Guard's 184th Infantry Regiment (2nd California Infantry)
accepted the surrender of Imperial Japanese forces south of the 38th
parallel; and
WHEREAS, On June 25, 1950, the ROK was attacked by the armed
forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK); and
WHEREAS, On June 30, 1950, President Harry S. Truman authorized
elements of the United States Army's 24th Division stationed in Japan
to intervene in the invasion of the ROK, a move that resulted in the
near destruction of Task Force Smith, a reinforced infantry
battalion comprised of fewer than 500 personnel; and
WHEREAS, On June 29, Seoul, the capital of the ROK, fell for the
first time, with those ROK forces north of the Han River being
captured or killed; and
WHEREAS, The first major battle between American and DPRK forces
at Taejon resulted in the 24th Infantry Division experiencing heavy
losses, including its division commander, a Berkeley resident,
University of California graduate, and former member of the
California National Guard, Major General William F. Dean, who was
captured by the DPRK, but not before he displayed personal heroism,
including destroying a DPRK tank with a "bazooka," leading to his
award of the Medal of Honor following his release in 1953; and
WHEREAS, After being pushed into a small perimeter around the port
city of Pusan located at the southeastern tip of the Korean
peninsula, United Nations forces under the command of United States
Army General Douglas MacArthur executed perhaps the most innovative
and successful amphibious counterattack in world history at the port
of Incheon on September 15, 1950, resulting in United Nations forces
gaining the offensive and pushing the DPRK forces north of the 38th
parallel towards the Yalu River along the border with China; and
WHEREAS, Units of the California National Guard were activated for
the conflict, including, on August 21, 1950, the 719th Anti-Aircraft
Artillery Gun Battalion, which was ordered into active duty for
service in Korea, with this recently racially desegregated unit being
followed on September 11, 1950, by the 1401st and 1402nd Engineer
Combat Battalions, which were still segregated; and
WHEREAS, The 719th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Gun Battalion was
returned to California state control from active federal military
service on April 14, 1952, and the 1401st and 1402nd Engineer Combat
Battalions were returned to state control from active federal service
on January 17, 1955, 18 months after the armistice, as fully
desegregated units; and
WHEREAS, On September 1, 1950, the California National Guard's
40th Infantry Division was again called into active federal service.
Departing out of Oakland Army Base and Fort Mason in San Francisco in
late March 1951, the division deployed to Japan for occupation duty
and combat training, including nine months of participation in
amphibious, air transportability, and live fire training from Mount
Fuji to Sendai; and
WHEREAS, On October 10, 1950, the California National Guard's
196th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, along with two other National Guard
squadrons from Florida and Georgia, were federalized and formed the
116th Fighter-Bomber Wing at George Air Force Base, Victorville,
California; and
WHEREAS, On October 14, 1950, three Chinese field armies supported
by aircraft from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics crossed the
Yalu River and engaged the United Nations forces on October 25,
1950; and
WHEREAS, On November 27, 1950, four Chinese field armies attacked
the 1st Marine and 7th Infantry Divisions at the Chosin Reservoir,
leading to a historic battle that resulted in the destruction of 10
Chinese Infantry Divisions and the successful breakout and withdrawal
by sea of American forces that concluded on December 24, 1950; and
WHEREAS, On July 10, 1951, the 196th Fighter-Bomber Squadron
departed San Diego on the aircraft carrier USS Windham Bay with its
18 F-84E "Thunderjet" fighter-bombers, arriving at Yokosuka Naval
Base on July 24, 1951; the squadron commenced combat operations from
Taegu Air Base, ROK, on December 28, 1951, and on June 10, 1952, the
squadron stood down and was relieved of its assignment, returning to
California and reforming at the Ontario Municipal Airport in January
1953; and
WHEREAS, On December 23, 1951, the 40th Infantry Division received
alert orders to move to Korea, where, in February 1951, it relieved
the 24th Infantry Division and subsequently participated in the
battles of Sandbag Castle, the Punchbowl, and Heartbreak Ridge; the
division suffered 376 soldiers killed in action and 1457 wounded,
earning the ROK Presidential Unit Citation and three individual
Medals of Honor; and
WHEREAS, On July 27, 1953, a ceasefire between the United Nations
and the DPRK took effect. Although over 53,000 ROK and United Nation
troops, including more than 8,000 Americans, remain missing in
action; and
WHEREAS, With a state of war still existing between the United
Nations and the DPRK, the California Army and Air National Guard
continue in the active defense of the ROK by participating in Team
Spirit exercises, which ensures tactical and logistical
interoperability between the respective Armed Forces of the United
States and the ROK in the event that major combat operations or other
emergencies occur in the future; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature urges Californians to
observe the anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Day and hereby
proclaims July 27, 2013, as Korean War Armistice Day, calling upon
all Californians to observe this with appropriate ceremonies and
activities that honor and give thanks to our distinguished Korean War
veterans; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature urges Governor Jerry Brown to
proclaim July 27, 2013, as Korean War Armistice Day and instruct all
state departments, agencies, interest groups, organizations, and
individuals to fly the flag of the United States at half-mast on July
27, 2013, in memory of the Californians who died as a result of
their service in Korea; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Department of Veterans Affairs, to the Military
Department, and to the author for appropriate distribution.
