Bill Text: IL SR0198 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Congress, the Department of the Army, and the Department of Defense to again review Captain Albracht's heroic actions at Firebase Kate and, if warranted, upgrade the Silver Star bestowed on him for those actions to the Medal of Honor.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 17-2)
Status: (Passed) 2015-04-16 - Resolution Adopted [SR0198 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-SR0198-Introduced.html
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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, From October
28 through November 2, 1969, Captain | ||||||
3 | William L. Albracht distinguished himself while serving as
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4 | commander of Firebase Kate, a small, isolated United States | ||||||
5 | Army artillery base secured by a company of Civilian
Irregular | ||||||
6 | Defense Group (CIDG) troops; and
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7 | WHEREAS, On October 28, 1969, Firebase Kate was attacked by | ||||||
8 | approximately 6,000
North Vietnamese troops in 2 infantry | ||||||
9 | regiments and a reinforced artillery regiment which soon | ||||||
10 | knocked out
its 3 howitzers; on the morning of October 29, | ||||||
11 | while leading a reconnaissance patrol near the base,
an enemy | ||||||
12 | ambush wounded the point man; and
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13 | WHEREAS, Disregarding his own safety, Captain Albracht ran | ||||||
14 | through
withering fire from a machine gun concealed less than | ||||||
15 | 50 meters away to find the unconscious trooper
and carry him to | ||||||
16 | safety; and
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17 | WHEREAS, A few hours later, after returning to the | ||||||
18 | firebase, Captain Albracht took up an
exposed position to guide | ||||||
19 | a Medevac helicopter to a safe landing; as the aircraft | ||||||
20 | approached, he
observed the launch of an enemy B-40 rocket from | ||||||
21 | a nearby hill and realized that the pilot could not see
this | ||||||
22 | missile; and
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1 | WHEREAS, With complete disregard for his own safety, | ||||||
2 | Captain Albracht stood his ground while
frantically waving off | ||||||
3 | the helicopter; the pilot veered away to safety just before the | ||||||
4 | rocket impacted,
wounding Captain Albracht with shrapnel; and
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5 | WHEREAS, Although in great pain from this wound, Captain | ||||||
6 | Albracht
refused medical evacuation and continued to direct the | ||||||
7 | actions of Firebase Kate's defenders; and
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8 | WHEREAS, Later that same day,
and on numerous occasions on | ||||||
9 | October 30, October 31, and November 1, with complete disregard | ||||||
10 | for
his own safety, Captain Albracht took up exposed positions | ||||||
11 | from which he could fire tracer rounds at
enemy machine guns | ||||||
12 | and crew-served weapons, thereby identifying targets for a | ||||||
13 | United States Air Force Forward Air
Controller overhead; | ||||||
14 | ignoring the storm of small arms and recoilless rifle fire | ||||||
15 | directed at him each time,
he remained in position until his | ||||||
16 | marked target was destroyed by United States Air Force attack | ||||||
17 | aircraft; and
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18 | WHEREAS, Captain Albracht's actions on
these numerous | ||||||
19 | occasions allowed the safe landing of resupply and Medevac | ||||||
20 | helicopters without which
the firebase would have been overrun; | ||||||
21 | and
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1 | WHEREAS, At dusk on October 30, after an emergency resupply | ||||||
2 | of water,
dozens of CIDG troops rushed the water trailer; the | ||||||
3 | enemy immediately fired mortars at them; with
complete | ||||||
4 | disregard for his own safety, Captain Albracht ran into this | ||||||
5 | barrage to drive, lead, and in some
cases carry CIDG troops out | ||||||
6 | of the beaten zone; and
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7 | WHEREAS, On the morning of October 31, as a Medevac | ||||||
8 | helicopter
approached the firebase to evacuate several wounded | ||||||
9 | men, the enemy fired mortars, small arms, and
recoilless rifles | ||||||
10 | at the wounded men; and
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11 | WHEREAS, Fearing for their lives, and with complete | ||||||
12 | disregard for his own
safety, Captain Albracht used his own | ||||||
13 | body to shield 2 wounded men until they were on the
helicopter; | ||||||
14 | and
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15 | WHEREAS, By November 1, relentless attacks by the | ||||||
16 | numerically superior enemy had reduced Firebase Kate's | ||||||
17 | defenders to 125 U.S. and allied soldiers, many of them | ||||||
18 | wounded; resupply flights and air support by
helicopter | ||||||
19 | gunships were halted because of overwhelming enemy ground fire; | ||||||
20 | and
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21 | WHEREAS, Ordered to evacuate the
firebase and then escape | ||||||
22 | and evade the thousands of enemy troops surrounding them, |
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1 | Captain Albracht led his forces off their hilltop at nightfall; | ||||||
2 | and
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3 | WHEREAS, When the CIDG point man froze at the entrance
to a | ||||||
4 | narrow path through thick jungle that was an obvious ambush | ||||||
5 | location, Captain Albracht took the
point and led his men | ||||||
6 | forward; as they approached the tree line, an enemy machine gun | ||||||
7 | directed
plunging fire at the column; men scattered into an | ||||||
8 | area littered with bomb and shell craters and
splintered trees; | ||||||
9 | and
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10 | WHEREAS, To safeguard his men and keep them together, and | ||||||
11 | with complete disregard for his
own safety, Captain Albracht | ||||||
12 | plunged into this area, grabbing men 2 and 3 at a time and | ||||||
13 | redirecting
them to a safer rallying point; then, evading enemy | ||||||
14 | patrols while navigating entirely by dead reckoning,
Captain | ||||||
15 | Albracht led his men through 5 kilometers of thick, trackless | ||||||
16 | jungle to a waiting rescue force; the combined force took a | ||||||
17 | circuitous route to the safety of Special Forces Team A-236's | ||||||
18 | camp at Bu
Prang; and
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19 | WHEREAS, After 5 harrowing days, Captain Albracht's | ||||||
20 | selfless courage and leadership had saved approximately 125 | ||||||
21 | U.S. and Allied soldiers; and
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22 | WHEREAS, Captain Albracht's actions resulted in the only |
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1 | time during the 8 years that U.S. combat forces operated in
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2 | South Vietnam that a unit surrounded by a numerically superior | ||||||
3 | enemy force escaped intact; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Because of
Captain Albracht, approximately 125 | ||||||
5 | men lived to fight another day; Captain Albracht's unflinching | ||||||
6 | courage and
unflagging leadership in the face of a well-trained | ||||||
7 | and highly motivated enemy were in keeping with the
highest | ||||||
8 | traditions of the military service, and will forever reflect | ||||||
9 | great credit upon both himself and the
United States Army; and
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10 | WHEREAS, Capt. William Albracht has been the recipient of 3 | ||||||
11 | Silver Star Medals, 3 Purple Heart Medals, 5 Bronze Star Medals | ||||||
12 | (3 for valor), 2 Air Medals (one for valor), and the Army | ||||||
13 | Commendation Medal (for valor), but was not
awarded the Medal | ||||||
14 | of Honor for his courageous acts at Firebase
Kate; and
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15 | WHEREAS, The members of this body believe that the
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16 | gallantry displayed by Captain William Albracht on those | ||||||
17 | fateful days
deserves to be further reviewed by the Department | ||||||
18 | of the Army and
the Department of Defense in order to determine | ||||||
19 | if his actions are
worthy of this nation's highest military | ||||||
20 | honor; therefore, be it
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21 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL | ||||||
22 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Congress, the |
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1 | Department of the Army, and the Department of Defense to again | ||||||
2 | review Captain Albracht's heroic actions at Firebase Kate and, | ||||||
3 | if warranted, upgrade the Silver Star Medal bestowed on him for | ||||||
4 | those actions to the Medal of Honor; and be it further
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5 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
6 | presented to the President, the Speaker and Minority Leader of | ||||||
7 | the United States House of Representatives, and the Majority | ||||||
8 | and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate.
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