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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The life and sacrifice of U.S. Navy Lieutenant Wilma |
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Ledbetter, who died in the line of duty during the Korean War, were |
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honored at a ceremony at First United Methodist Church in |
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Chillicothe on March 14, 2015; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Chillicothe on April 27, 1912, Wilma |
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Ledbetter attended Texas State College for Women and Central State |
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Teachers College in Edmond, Oklahoma, before changing her career |
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goal from teaching to nursing; she subsequently trained at the |
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Northwest Texas Hospital School of Nursing in Amarillo from 1936 to |
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1939; after working for a year as a nurse at the hospital, she |
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joined the staff at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, and during the |
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next two years she also continued her education at Louisiana State |
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University; she returned to Texas in 1942 and worked at |
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Brackenridge Hospital in Austin; and |
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WHEREAS, Answering her nation's call to duty during World War |
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II, Wilma Ledbetter joined the Navy Nurse Corps in July 1943, and |
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she served at naval hospitals in San Diego, Hawaii, and New Orleans |
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before being released from active duty in May 1946; the following |
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year, she returned to duty as a member of the Navy Reserve Nurse |
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Corps and was posted to Houston and then Nevada; in 1948, she was |
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commissioned a lieutenant in the Nurse Corps; she worked for a time |
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in Philadelphia, and when the Korean War broke out, she rejoined the |
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active Navy Nurse Corps; and |
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WHEREAS, On August 25, 1950, Lieutenant Ledbetter was serving |
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on the USS Benevolence, a naval hospital ship, when it was |
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accidentally rammed by a freighter in San Francisco Bay; the |
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Benevolence keeled over on its side and sank within 45 minutes; |
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plunged into the cold water of the bay, Lieutenant Ledbetter tried |
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to help her fellow crew members; she was the last nurse to be pulled |
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from the water, and the prolonged exposure tragically proved too |
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great; she succumbed to hypothermia, becoming one of 23 people from |
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the Benevolence to lose their lives; and |
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WHEREAS, Sixty-five years later, Lieutenant Ledbetter's |
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naval service was recognized in a solemn ceremony in her hometown, |
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sponsored by the Western Trail and Austin Colony Chapters of the |
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National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution; |
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Lieutenant Ledbetter's sister, Emily Ledbetter Shoemaker, and |
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other members of her family were presented with the lieutenant's |
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posthumous decorations, including the World War II Victory Medal, |
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the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Medal, and the |
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Gold Star Pin; and |
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WHEREAS, Lieutenant Wilma Ledbetter dedicated her life to the |
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care of this nation's military personnel, and she kept faith with |
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that commitment until her very last moments; for her selfless |
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efforts and immeasurable sacrifice, Americans owe this outstanding |
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officer a debt that the passage of time can never diminish; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life and service of U.S. Navy |
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Lieutenant Wilma Ledbetter. |