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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Americans have served courageously in every war they |
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have been summoned to fight, and those who saw duty in Southeast |
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Asia during the Vietnam War are deserving of acknowledgment for |
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their steadfast efforts during that long and difficult conflict; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, After France withdrew from Vietnam in 1954, the |
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United States moved to support the creation of an anti-Communist |
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government in the southern part of the country; along with sending |
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military aid, the United States also sent advisors to help train the |
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South Vietnamese Army; in 1959, two such advisors became the first |
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American military personnel to be killed in Vietnam when they died |
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at the hands of Communist guerillas; and |
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WHEREAS, Two years later, in May 1961, President John F. |
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Kennedy sent the first Green Beret advisors to South Vietnam to |
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assist its army in developing a counterinsurgency capability; by |
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the end of 1964, the number of American advisors in South Vietnam |
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had grown to 23,000; and |
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WHEREAS, In August 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin |
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Resolution, giving the president of the United States broad powers |
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to wage war; early the next year, the Vietcong launched a series of |
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attacks throughout South Vietnam; in response to the deteriorating |
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situation, 3,500 U.S. Marines were dispatched to that country, the |
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first American ground combat troops to be deployed there; at the |
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same time, the United States began an intensive bombing campaign |
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against North Vietnam; and |
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WHEREAS, The number of U.S. troops in Vietnam continued to |
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rise until it peaked at 543,400 in 1969; by that time, the number of |
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Americans killed in the struggle surpassed the number of Americans |
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lost in the Korean War; the United States fought on in Vietnam until |
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the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on January 27, 1973; two |
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months later, on March 29, the last American troops in Vietnam |
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withdrew from the country; and |
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WHEREAS, In addition to ending American military involvement |
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in Vietnam, the peace agreement provided for the exchange of |
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prisoners; during the war, most American POWs were held at camps in |
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North Vietnam, but some were imprisoned in South Vietnam, Laos, |
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Cambodia, and China; Operation Homecoming, the repatriation effort |
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mounted by the United States, returned 566 military personnel and |
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25 civilians over the course of February and March 1973; today, |
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approximately 1,700 Americans remain unaccounted for, most of whom |
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are presumed or known to have died; and |
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WHEREAS, Altogether, 3.4 million members of the U.S. military |
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served in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, and nearly 2.6 |
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million saw duty in South Vietnam itself; more than 58,000 American |
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service members, including nearly 3,500 from Texas, lost their |
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lives in the war, and over 150,000 were seriously injured; and |
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WHEREAS, The men and women who served this country in the |
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Vietnam War, including those veterans who are members of the Texas |
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House of Representatives, are deserving of their fellow citizens' |
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deep respect and gratitude, and it is indeed fitting that a special |
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day be set aside to honor their bravery, their devotion to duty, and |
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their immeasurable sacrifice; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
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Legislature hereby recognize March 29, 2011, as Vietnam Veterans |
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Day in the State of Texas and encourage all citizens of the Lone |
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Star State to join in observing this solemn day of tribute and |
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commemoration. |