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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, April 18, 2017, marks the 75th anniversary of the |
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famous Doolittle Raid during World War II, and this occasion |
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provides a fitting opportunity to pay tribute to the heroism of |
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retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Richard Cole, the last |
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surviving member of that mission; and |
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WHEREAS, Only four months after the devastating attack on |
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Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the U.S. Army Air Forces staged a |
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daring raid on Japan; led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, 16 |
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B-25B Mitchell bombers took off from the aircraft carrier USS |
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Hornet to bomb six Japanese cities; and |
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WHEREAS, Afterward, one of the bombers landed in Russia, |
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while the other 15 either ditched in the sea or crashed in China; of |
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the 80 men who took part in the mission, three died during the raid, |
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eight were taken prisoner, and the rest eventually returned to |
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rejoin the war effort; while the raid had no significant military |
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effect, it boosted the morale of the American public and showed the |
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Japanese that they could not defend their home islands from attack; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Dick Cole was born on September 7, 1915, in Dayton, |
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Ohio; he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1940 and was commissioned |
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as a second lieutenant in July 1941; the following spring, he |
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volunteered for an unspecified "dangerous mission" after seeing a |
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notice on a bulletin board, and it was only two days after he and the |
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other members of the mission had set sail from California that they |
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learned their objective was Japan; during the raid itself, |
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Lieutenant Cole served as Colonel Doolittle's copilot in the lead |
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aircraft; after dropping their payload on Tokyo, the two men and |
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their crew flew southwestward until they ran out of fuel and then |
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bailed out over China, where Lieutenant Cole spent the first night |
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hanging by his parachute from a pine tree; and |
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WHEREAS, Dick Cole remained in the China-Burma-India theater |
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until June 1943 and served there again from October 1943 to June |
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1944; in the years following the war, he achieved a notable career |
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in the U.S. Air Force; his military commendations include the |
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Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak-leaf clusters, the Bronze |
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Star, the Air Medal with one oak-leaf cluster, the Air Force |
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Commendation Medal, and the Chinese Army, Navy, and Air Corps |
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Medal, class A, 1st grade; and |
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WHEREAS, Now living in Comfort, Texas, Colonel Cole embodies |
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the selfless, courageous spirit of the 80 brave comrades who, in |
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carrying out a perilous and audacious assignment, lifted the |
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spirits of a nation during one of its darkest hours and helped |
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inspire its armed forces to their eventual victory over the Axis |
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Powers; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commend Lieutenant Colonel Richard Cole for his |
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heroic service during the Doolittle Raid and extend to him sincere |
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best wishes for continued happiness; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Lieutenant Colonel Cole as an expression of high |
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regard by the Texas House of Representatives. |