Bill Text: TX HR328 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commemorating April 9, 2013, as Former POW Recognition Day.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2013-02-21 - Reported enrolled [HR328 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HR328-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 328 |
|
||
WHEREAS, For thousands of members of the American armed | ||
forces who have served in wartime, the heat of battle has been | ||
followed by the hardships and challenges of life as a prisoner of | ||
war; and | ||
WHEREAS, Harsh conditions and psychological duress have been | ||
the common lot of POWs, and often the degree of cruelty inflicted | ||
has reached the level of atrocity; the history of this country's | ||
military conflicts is replete with such infamous cases; among the | ||
horrors that attended the American Civil War were the Andersonville | ||
and Libby prison camps in the South and Elmira in the North, where, | ||
collectively, more than 16,000 prisoners died from a lack of food, | ||
inadequate medical care, wretched sanitation, and exposure to the | ||
elements; altogether, it is estimated that 56,000 men perished in | ||
Civil War prisons; and | ||
WHEREAS, In World War II, the notorious Bataan Death March | ||
followed on the heels of the surrender of 70,000 American and | ||
Filipino troops to the Japanese Army on April 9, 1942; treatment of | ||
those prisoners was so brutal that the Japanese officer initially | ||
in command was later tried as a war criminal and executed; still | ||
further misery awaited POWs in the Philippines; in late 1944, with | ||
U.S. forces poised to recapture the islands, the Japanese Army | ||
herded more than 126,000 Allied prisoners into the holds of | ||
merchant ships for the purpose of evacuation; many of those men died | ||
as a result of fetid, overcrowded conditions and a lack of food and | ||
water; in addition, over 21,000 Americans are believed to have been | ||
killed or injured when the "hell ships" carrying them were attacked | ||
by American planes and submarines; and | ||
WHEREAS, American prisoner-of-war deaths during the Korean | ||
War officially totaled more than 2,800, for a rate of over 40 | ||
percent; before the creation of permanent prison camps, many of | ||
those captured died on death marches to temporary facilities; | ||
casualties were especially high in the first two years of the war, | ||
largely due to a lack of food, shelter, and medicine; prisoners also | ||
suffered physical abuse, and there were reported cases of torture; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, U.S. troops captured during the Vietnam War were | ||
kept in primitive conditions in South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Laos, | ||
and Cambodia; the so-called "Hanoi Hilton" prison in North Vietnam | ||
was the scene of repeated torture, while one out of every three | ||
Americans taken prisoner by the Viet Cong died from disease, | ||
injury, or execution; and | ||
WHEREAS, In today's military, women are increasingly | ||
assuming risks on a par with men; Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson, | ||
of El Paso, became one of the first two female POWs of Operation | ||
Iraqi Freedom on March 23, 2003, when her convoy was ambushed in | ||
Nasiriya; wounded in both ankles, she was held captive with other | ||
members of her group until they were rescued on April 13, 2003; and | ||
WHEREAS, Those prisoners of war who have survived their | ||
ordeal have continued to lead lives of service; among the most | ||
prominent is Congressman Sam Johnson, of Plano, who was shot down | ||
during his second tour of duty as a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War | ||
and who subsequently spent nearly seven years as a POW in North | ||
Vietnam; after retiring from a highly decorated 29-year career in | ||
the United States Air Force, Sam Johnson served in the Texas House | ||
of Representatives from 1985 to 1991, when he was elected to the | ||
U.S. Congress; and | ||
WHEREAS, During the Vietnam War, the plight of American | ||
military personnel who were listed either as having been captured | ||
or as missing in action gave rise to the creation of the POW/MIA | ||
flag; depicting the silhouette of a man flanked by a watchtower and | ||
a strand of barbed wire, the flag flies, at the direction of | ||
Congress, over the White House, the Capitol, and other specified | ||
sites on the occasion of six annual national observances, including | ||
Independence Day and Veterans Day; and | ||
WHEREAS, Our nation is fortunate to have sons and daughters | ||
whose love of country leads them to join one of the uniformed | ||
branches, yet we are aware that in answering their nation's call, | ||
they assume enormous burdens and risks; to those who have known the | ||
terrible rigors of prison camps while serving in this country's | ||
behalf, Americans owe a profound debt and eternal tribute; now, | ||
therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas | ||
Legislature hereby commemorate April 9, 2013, as Former POW | ||
Recognition Day and honor all Texans who have experienced life as a | ||
prisoner of war for their immeasurable courage, commitment, and | ||
sacrifice. | ||
Price | ||
Branch | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 328 was adopted by the House on | ||
February 18, 2013, by a non-record vote. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||