Bill Text: OR HCR4 | 2013 | Regular Session | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Honoring Neil Swarthout for heroic acts as United States Navy pilot.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8)

Status: (Passed) 2013-04-11 - Filed with Secretary of State. [HCR4 Detail]

Download: Oregon-2013-HCR4-Enrolled.html

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     77th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2013 Regular Session

                            Enrolled

                  House Concurrent Resolution 4

Sponsored by Representative MATTHEWS; Representatives CLEM,
  FREDERICK, HOYLE, KENY-GUYER, WITT, Senators MONNES ANDERSON,
  ROBLAN (Presession filed.)

  Whereas Neil Swarthout was born on March 14, 1922, in Neenah,
Wisconsin, and moved with his family to St. Helens, Oregon, in
1928; and
  Whereas Neil Swarthout enlisted in the United States Navy in
March 1942, enrolling shortly thereafter in the Naval Aviation
Cadet Program to become a pilot; and
  Whereas Neil Swarthout completed flight training all over the
country, receiving his Golden Wings in November 1943 and being
commissioned as an ensign; and
  Whereas Neil Swarthout was trained as a dive bomber in the
Douglas SBD Dauntless aircraft and, in 1944, was sent to Air
Group 6 in Santa Rosa, California, and issued the Curtiss SB2C
Helldiver, an aircraft known to be difficult to handle and used
for dive bombing raids; and
  Whereas with his squadron aboard the U.S.S. Hancock, Neil
Swarthout carried out numerous attacks on various Japanese
targets; and
  Whereas after the U.S.S. Franklin lay dead in the water within
50 miles of the Japanese coastline following an attack by a
suicide bomber, Neil Swarthout pursued a Japanese Mitsubishi G4M
bomber making a run at the disabled ship, following the plane
through flames and debris to sea and ensuring that it was out of
action, a heroic act for which he was awarded his first Air
Medal; and
  Whereas Neil Swarthout was awarded the Navy Cross for scoring a
direct hit on a battleship while carrying out a strike on a
Japanese naval station; and
  Whereas on September 2, 1945, as the Japanese signed their
formal surrender aboard the U.S.S. Missouri in Tokyo Bay, Neil
Swarthout's squadron was among the nearly 300 planes circling
above the U.S.S. Missouri as a show of force to the Japanese
Imperial Navy; and
  Whereas Neil Swarthout was recalled to active duty during the
Korean War and assigned to a ferry squadron, with which he flew
many different aircraft; and
  Whereas Neil Swarthout continued to be a 'weekend warrior '
with the United States Navy Reserve until 1962, and officially
retired from the United States Navy on March 14, 1982, with the
rank of Lieutenant Commander; and
  Whereas Neil Swarthout married Merilee, a fellow student at
Oregon State College, on December 27, 1946, and together they
raised two adopted children; and
  Whereas Neil Swarthout's humble demeanor belies his
accomplishments as a highly decorated Navy pilot with five Air
Medals and the prestigious Navy Cross to his name; now,
therefore,

Enrolled House Concurrent Resolution 4 (HCR 4-INTRO)       Page 1

Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
  Oregon:

  That we, the members of the Seventy-seventh Legislative
Assembly, honor Neil Swarthout for his illustrious career as a
United States Navy pilot and commend him for his valor and
accomplishments.
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                                  Adopted by House February 27,
                                              2013

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                                 Ramona J. Line, Chief Clerk of
                                              House

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                                  Tina Kotek, Speaker of House

                                 Adopted by Senate April 9, 2013

                               ----------------------------------
                                  Peter Courtney, President of
                                             Senate

Enrolled House Concurrent Resolution 4 (HCR 4-INTRO)       Page 2