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| 1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois General Assembly stand | ||||||
| 3 | united in our strong support of all military personnel who have | ||||||
| 4 | served and call on all Illinoisans to show support to all those | ||||||
| 5 | who wear the uniform; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Forty-two years ago, World War II veteran Jesse | ||||||
| 7 | Crow watched as soldiers returned to DeSoto from tours of duty | ||||||
| 8 | in Vietnam; Mr. Crow fought in Europe as a member of the United | ||||||
| 9 | States Army's 101st Airborne Division; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, It is believed by many veterans that after World | ||||||
| 11 | War II, other wars are ignored or forgotten; Jesse Crow | ||||||
| 12 | observed and recognized this and dedicated his time to making | ||||||
| 13 | sure that none of DeSoto's veterans are ever forgotten; and | ||||||
| 14 | WHEREAS, In 2001, Jesse Crow began planning to build a | ||||||
| 15 | memorial in the community; the memorial was built almost | ||||||
| 16 | entirely with private donations; Mr. Crow designed the 6 | ||||||
| 17 | 1/2-foot tall black granite monument, which sits on a | ||||||
| 18 | triangular island of land bordered by Illinois Route 149 and | ||||||
| 19 | Pine and Lincoln Streets; and
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| 20 | WHEREAS, The monument is engraved with the emblems of all | ||||||
| 21 | the branches of the military and is flanked by matching black | ||||||
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| 1 | granite benches; it bears the names of all DeSoto's past and | ||||||
| 2 | future veterans, regardless of whether they served in a time of | ||||||
| 3 | war or peace; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, Jesse Crow stated, "It is one thing to read | ||||||
| 5 | history in the pages of a book, but when you see a monument | ||||||
| 6 | carved in stone, it's forever"; and
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| 7 | WHEREAS, It is important that we urge communities across | ||||||
| 8 | the State to consider appropriate expressions of support and | ||||||
| 9 | recognition for veterans living in their midst; therefore, be | ||||||
| 10 | it
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| 11 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
| 12 | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | ||||||
| 13 | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we designate the portion of | ||||||
| 14 | Illinois Route 149 East from U.S. Route 51 to the Jackson | ||||||
| 15 | County Line as the "Veterans Memorial Highway"; and be it | ||||||
| 16 | further
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| 17 | RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation | ||||||
| 18 | is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with | ||||||
| 19 | State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs | ||||||
| 20 | giving notice of the name of the "Veterans Memorial Highway"; | ||||||
| 21 | and be it further | ||||||
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| 1 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 2 | presented to the Village of DeSoto.
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