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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are pleased to congratulate Norman Wilke on the
4occasion of being named 2016 Veteran of the Year by the Shiloh
5Spurs; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Norman Wilke, a farm boy from the small town of
7St. Libory, joined the United States Army on November 4, 1952
8at the age of 20 to serve his country during the Korean War;
9and
 
10    WHEREAS, After four months of boot camp infantry training
11at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, Norman Wilke was shipped out to
12Camp Omiya, where he had surgery on his shoulder after being
13knocked out of his bunk during a rough storm on the voyage; and
 
14    WHEREAS, A chance meeting with a friend from home persuaded
15Norman Wilke to join the 4th Platoon, where his primary duty
16became Graves Registration, which was collecting the bodies of
17dead soldiers and civilian American citizens, embalming their
18bodies, and preparing them to ship home; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Norman Wilke, along with five other platoon
20members, once had to climb Mount Fuji on foot to retrieve the
21bodies of American soldiers who died in a plane crash; after

 

 

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1conditions were too foggy for the helicopter that would
2retrieve them to land, he and his company had to stay on the
3mountain overnight and sleep in the body bags they brought with
4them; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Norman Wilke prepared an average of 20 to 30
6bodies a day, with many more during certain battles; the
7hardest part of his job was preparing the body of someone he
8knew; and
 
9    WHEREAS, While Norman Wilke's job was sometimes
10heart-wrenching, he felt proud to perform this important job
11and felt he was honoring those who died for our country by
12respectfully preparing them for their final journey home; and
 
13    WHEREAS, After serving two years in the 31st Infantry
14Division, 4th Platoon as the 114th Graves Registration
15Quartermaster, Norman Wilke left the Army in 1954 to return
16home and marry his sweetheart, Dorothy; in 1960, he founded the
17Wilke Window and Door Company, which has since become the
18largest window and door showroom in the Metro St. Louis area,
19as well as Norm's Bargain Bin and Lifestyle Kitchen and Baths;
20therefore, be it
 
21    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
22NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we

 

 

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1congratulate Norman Wilke on the occasion of being named 2016
2Veteran of the Year and thank him for his service; and be it
3further
 
4    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
5presented to Norman Wilke as an expression of our esteem and
6respect.