By:  Turner                                      S.R. No. 728
    1-1                           SENATE RESOLUTION
    1-2        WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas is pleased that
    1-3  Vernon Lazerus of Huntsville, Texas, has finally been accorded the
    1-4  recognition he deserved for heroic actions during World War II; and
    1-5        WHEREAS, The recognition is 50 years late, and Mr. Lazerus
    1-6  is amused but pleased to be recognized for his heroism in
    1-7  World War II; and
    1-8        WHEREAS, Mr. Lazerus graduated from the Massachusetts
    1-9  Maritime Academy in late 1942 and served in the Merchant Marine
   1-10  for 25 years; and
   1-11        WHEREAS, From early 1942 to 1945, convoys of ships formed
   1-12  at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and proceeded across the north Atlantic
   1-13  Ocean; some convoys would deliver war supplies to the United Kingdom
   1-14  and some would continue to northern Russia to deliver supplies there;
   1-15  these supplies included 500-pound bombs, tanks, and locomotives; and
   1-16        WHEREAS, Mr. Lazerus referred to these expeditions as the
   1-17  "infamous Murmansk run" because so many Americans lost their lives
   1-18  on these trips; and
   1-19        WHEREAS, Mr. Lazerus made two runs to Murmansk; his convoy
   1-20  of about 50 ships included a British battleship surrounded by
   1-21  Merchant Marine vessels accompanied by a destroyer escort;
   1-22  statistics show that lives lost in the Merchant Marine were second
   1-23  only to lives lost by the United States Marine Corps in World War II;
    2-1  and
    2-2        WHEREAS, A year after the war ended, Mr. Lazerus sailed into
    2-3  Galveston, and he has lived in Texas ever since; Mr. Lazerus retired
    2-4  from the Merchant Marine in 1968 with the rank of chief engineer and
    2-5  the rank of commander in the United States Naval Reserve; and
    2-6        WHEREAS, Being finally honored for his heroism has been
    2-7  satisfying; he received a medal and a certificate signed by the
    2-8  president of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin; now, therefore,
    2-9  be it
   2-10        RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas,
   2-11  73rd Legislature, hereby commend the heroism of Vernon Lazerus and
   2-12  congratulate him on receiving this recognition; and, be it further
   2-13        RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for
   2-14  Mr. Lazerus as an expression of the high esteem of the Texas Senate.
   2-15                                 _____________________________________
   2-16                                        President of the Senate
   2-17                                      I hereby certify that the
   2-18                                 above Resolution was adopted by
   2-19                                 the Senate on April 26, 1993.
   2-20                                 _____________________________________
   2-21                                        Secretary of the Senate
   2-22                                 _____________________________________
   2-23                                         Member, Texas Senate