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| | HR1086 | | LRB098 21241 MST 59243 r |
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1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | | WHEREAS, Loren Duke Abdalla is the great-grandson of Head |
3 | | Chief Running Bull of the
Yankton Sioux Tribe from South |
4 | | Dakota; and |
5 | | WHEREAS, Loren Duke Abdalla, who went by Duke, enlisted in |
6 | | the United States Marine Corps
in October of 1943, at the age |
7 | | of 18; and |
8 | | WHEREAS, When Duke finished basic training he was assigned |
9 | | and sent to New Caledonia, and
later reassigned to Pavuvu |
10 | | Island with the First Marine Division, 1st Regiment, 1st |
11 | | Battalion, A
Company, 1st Platoon, under the command of Colonel |
12 | | Chesty Puller and Major Ray Davis; and |
13 | | WHEREAS, After months of island training as a rifleman and |
14 | | machine gunner, Duke's regiment was
given its first orders, to |
15 | | invade the Island of Peleliu; on September 15, 1944, Duke's |
16 | | battalion invaded Peleliu; he was stationed with his
machine |
17 | | gun team and on the third day of the attack his team was pinned |
18 | | down on 3 sides by
enemy fire; 3 of his comrades were struck |
19 | | and he was blown back against a coral wall
which caused |
20 | | shrapnel holes in both his legs and blew out his ear drums; he |
21 | | survived and was one of only 6 Marines left in A Company, with |
22 | | just 29 left
standing in 1st Battalion after the battle; he |
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| | HR1086 | - 2 - | LRB098 21241 MST 59243 r |
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1 | | received the Purple Heart and was promoted to
Corporal, |
2 | | becoming the squad leader of the 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon, A |
3 | | Company; and |
4 | | WHEREAS, Duke recovered in the hospital from his wounds and |
5 | | returned to A Company ready
for the Battle of Okinawa, where he |
6 | | would again become a hero; the Battle of Okinawa began on April |
7 | | 1, 1945 and would last for 82 days until June
22nd; the First |
8 | | Marine Division was ordered to relieve the 27th Army Division |
9 | | near the Shuri Line
on April 29th; 1st Platoon B and C Company |
10 | | were both first ordered to take the Shuri Line but
were |
11 | | continually pushed back by the enemy machine gun fire; on May |
12 | | 5th it was A Company's
order to take the line; the morning of |
13 | | May 5th before the attack, Corporal John Brady, the 2nd |
14 | | Squadron
leader, was burned by an enemy grenade and under heavy |
15 | | fire; Duke became a hero again,
throwing Corporal Brady over |
16 | | his shoulder and carrying him to safety before returning to his
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17 | | squad of 12 marines; it was Duke's squad's order to take out |
18 | | the 6 machine gun nests across the ridge;
after the 4th nest |
19 | | was taken out Duke stood alone, his entire squad was either |
20 | | killed or wounded; he continued to push forward and take out |
21 | | the final 2 machine gun nests, while the other 2
squads worked |
22 | | around the base taking out spider traps and a big gun hidden in |
23 | | a cave; in clearing the ridge, Duke allowed the First Marine |
24 | | Division to advance, although
many of his comrades were honored |
25 | | for their bravery on that day, Duke was not recognized for
his |
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1 | | action; and
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2 | | WHEREAS, During Duke's tour on Okinawa he saved 2 other |
3 | | men's lives; he pulled fellow
Marine H. T. Clark out of fire |
4 | | when he froze at the ridge known as Three Sisters;
Duke also |
5 | | pulled a war correspondent out of a shell hole while under |
6 | | fire, saving his life; and
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7 | | WHEREAS, Loren Duke Abdalla ended his service on February |
8 | | 28, 1947 with an honorable
discharge from the United States |
9 | | Marine Corp; he fought valiantly during his service in the
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10 | | Pacific Theater; he was awarded the Purple Heart, saved the |
11 | | lives of 3 men, and saved many
of his fellow comrades with his |
12 | | brave efforts; and
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13 | | WHEREAS, The family of Loren Duke Abdalla has been telling |
14 | | his story from World War II
with the goal of his service being |
15 | | reviewed and his actions deserving of a Medal of Honor; they
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16 | | believe Duke was passed over for this award because of |
17 | | discrimination against his Native
American Heritage; |
18 | | therefore, be it
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19 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
20 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
21 | | we urge the President of the United States and Congress to act |
22 | | swiftly and review the case of Loren Duke Abdalla's actions |
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1 | | during World War II, which are deserving of the Medal of Honor; |
2 | | and be it further
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3 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be |
4 | | presented to President Barack Obama, the entire Illinois
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5 | | Congressional Delegation, the Speaker of the U.S. House of |
6 | | Representatives John Boehner, the Minority Leader
of the U.S. |
7 | | House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. Senate Majority |
8 | | Leader Harry Reid, and the
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch |
9 | | McConnell.
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