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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, It is highly fitting that the Illinois General
3Assembly pays honor and respect to the truly great individuals
4who have served our country; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Paul Smith died in the service of
6his country in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in the summer of 2009;
7and
 
8    WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Smith retired from the United
9States Army in 2006 after tours in Kuwait, Bosnia, Iraq, and
10Afghanistan, but he did not retire from combat; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Smith joined the Illinois National
12Guard with the 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Smith's 2009 deployment was his
14third in Afghanistan with Troop C, 2nd Battalion, 106th Cavalry
15Regiment, providing protection for Embedded Training Teams and
16the Afghan army; and
 
17    WHEREAS, In late August of 2009, at the age of 43, Staff
18Sergeant Smith volunteered for a mission, manning the gunner
19position atop a Humvee, fifth in a military convoy; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Smith typically rode in the first
2or last vehicle in the line; he was killed instantly when an
3improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle;
4another soldier was killed and 2 were seriously injured in the
5explosion; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The device was the first of its kind to be
7floating in a roadside canal, and not on the side of the road
8like all the others that had caused so much death and injury in
9the war in Afghanistan; and
 
10    WHEREAS, A small home on Jay Street in East Peoria
11currently holds a beautiful tribute to Staff Sergeant Smith,
12including photos, a quilt, and a framed sketch by an artist who
13has done the same for every 2,350 American fatalities in the
14war in Afghanistan to date; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Smith's dedication, heroism, and
16courage will never be forgotten by his family, city, State, and
17country; therefore, be it
 
18    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
19NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
20SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate the section of
21Illinois Route 8 in East Peoria beginning at the intersection
22of Arnold Avenue and ending at the intersection of Oakwood Road

 

 

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1as the "Staff Sergeant Paul Smith Memorial Highway"; and be it
2further
 
3    RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation
4is requested to erect, at suitable locations consistent with
5State and federal regulations, an appropriate plaque or signs
6giving notice of the name of the "Staff Sergeant Paul Smith
7Memorial Highway"; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
9presented to the family of Staff Sergeant Smith, the Mayor of
10East Peoria, and the Secretary of the Illinois Department of
11Transportation.