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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The family of U.S. Army Private First Class Herschel |
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Mearl Riggs of Rio Grande City are welcoming him home, nearly 70 |
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years after he was killed in action at the age of 18 in the Korean |
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War; and |
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WHEREAS, Herschel Riggs was born in Fort Ringgold on |
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September 21, 1931, to Herschal and Lille Lund Riggs; answering his |
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nation's call to duty, he served in the U.S. Army as a member of |
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Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th |
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Infantry Division; his medals and commendations included a Purple |
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Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, |
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the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service |
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Medal, and the Korean War Service Medal; and |
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WHEREAS, After the Battle of Kum River in South Korea, |
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Private Riggs was presumed missing in action on July 16, 1950, and |
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his unidentified remains were recovered in 1950 and buried |
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anonymously in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in |
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Hawaii; he was declared dead on July 31, 1953; and |
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WHEREAS, In the decades since, the members of Private Riggs's |
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family never gave up hope of finding him; their many years of |
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effort, including trips to Korea and Japan, were rewarded when his |
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remains in Hawaii were identified through DNA analysis; he is being |
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reinterred next to his sister, Norma Riggs Saenz, in Pearsall on May |
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25, 2019, with full military honors; and |
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WHEREAS, A brave and dedicated soldier, Herschel Riggs made |
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the ultimate sacrifice in behalf of his country, and his fellow |
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citizens owe him a debt of gratitude that the passage of time can |
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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 pay tribute to the life of Private Herschel M. |
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Riggs and extend heartfelt sympathy to his family; 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 and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Herschel |
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Mearl Riggs. |
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Guillen |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 2192 was unanimously adopted by a |
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rising vote of the House on May 27, 2019. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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