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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, U.S. Marine Private First Class Charles Howard Roan |
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gave his life for his country during World War II, and the |
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commemoration of the 75th anniversary of his death provides a |
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fitting occasion to honor his posthumous receipt of the |
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Congressional Medal of Honor; and |
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WHEREAS, The son of Henry and Lillabel Roan, Charles Roan was |
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born in Claude on August 16, 1923; he volunteered for the |
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U.S. Marine Corps in 1942 and was deployed to the Pacific theater in |
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1943, seeing combat in eastern New Guinea, the Bismarck |
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Archipelago, and the Palau Islands; and |
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WHEREAS, A rifleman with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st |
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Marine Division, Private Roan was killed in action on September 18, |
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1944, on Peleliu Island; he and his squad came under hand grenade |
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attack after being cut off from their company; injured by a blast, |
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he was then mortally wounded when he threw himself over another |
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charge, absorbing the full impact of the explosion and saving the |
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lives of four of his comrades; and |
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WHEREAS, President Harry Truman presented the Congressional |
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Medal of Honor to Private Roan's mother in a July 1945 ceremony at |
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the Armstrong County Courthouse; this brave Marine was additionally |
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honored with the Purple Heart, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal |
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with three battle stars, and the World War II Victory Medal; |
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moreover, the USS Charles H. Roan was christened in 1946, and the |
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Ussery-Roan Texas State Veterans Home in Amarillo bears his name; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, Demonstrating extraordinary courage in the line of |
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duty, Charles Howard Roan made the ultimate sacrifice in the |
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service of his nation, and his fellow Americans owe him a debt that |
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the passage of time can never diminish; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the 75th anniversary of the death of |
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U.S. Marine Private First Class Charles Howard Roan and his |
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posthumous receipt of the Congressional Medal of Honor; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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House of Representatives. |