Bill Text: VA HJR53 | 2014 | Regular Session | Enrolled

Virginia House Joint Resolution 53 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Celebrating the life Corporal William Ray Sluss.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-01-16 - Bill text as passed House and Senate (HJ53ER) [HJR53 Detail]

Download: Virginia-2014-HJR53-Enrolled.html

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 53 Celebrating the life of Corporal William Ray Sluss.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 10, 2014 Agreed to by the Senate, January 16, 2014

WHEREAS, United States Army Corporal William Ray Sluss, who died on April 30, 1951, while a prisoner of war in North Korea, was brought back to his family in Scott County and laid to rest with full military honors on February 18, 2012; and

WHEREAS, William Ray Sluss grew up on the family farm in rural Scott County, leaving to enlist in the United States Army when he was just 17 years of age; and

WHEREAS, assigned to the 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division during the Korean War, Corporal Sluss proudly served his country alongside his fellow soldiers; and

WHEREAS, on November 30, 1950, Corporal Sluss was taken prisoner by North Korean forces near Kunu-ri, North Korea; and

WHEREAS, an extremely strong and courageous soldier, Corporal Sluss died at POW Camp 5 five months later; and

WHEREAS, initially listed as missing in action, the United States Army was able to confirm Corporal Sluss' death in 1954 and notified his family; he was posthumously awarded a Prisoner of War Medal; and

WHEREAS, it took several more decades of hard work and dedication by skilled diplomats, military personnel, and family members to identify and bring Corporal Sluss' earthly remains home for burial; and

WHEREAS, in 2007, the U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii recovered Corporal Sluss' remains from North Korea and he was officially accounted for on January 17, 2012; and

WHEREAS, on February 16, 2012, Corporal Sluss' remains arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, after being flown from Hawaii; his casket was transferred by an honor guard to a hearse that was then escorted to Scott County; and

WHEREAS, Corporal Sluss' family made tremendous sacrifices and endured distress, with surviving family members waiting nearly 60 years after learning of his death to bring him home for burial; and

WHEREAS, Corporal Sluss' death is a solemn reminder of the perils faced daily by the thousands of Americans who serve in our armed forces overseas and whose devotion to duty places them in harm's way; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the death of a courageous and patriotic Virginian, Corporal William Ray Sluss; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Corporal William Ray Sluss as an expression of the General Assembly's profound respect for his memory and his and his family's sacrifices.