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TO RECOGNIZE AND SALUTE THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES WHO SERVED DURING THE KOREAN WAR, TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND APPRECIATION OF A GRATEFUL STATE AND NATION, AND TO DECLARE THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2017, AS "KOREAN WAR VETERANS DAY" IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
Whereas, with deep appreciation, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly honor, on behalf of all South Carolinians, the great sacrifice that the men and women of the United States Armed Forces make for the ideals of liberty and justice so richly enjoyed in this nation; and
Whereas, American veterans of the Korean War, among them many South Carolinians, served with their allies during that conflict and fought heroically to preserve freedom at great personal cost; and
Whereas, the first "hot" conflict of the Cold War, the Korean War included historic battles and offensives that reshaped Northeast Asia and set the groundwork for today's vibrant South Korea and a generally peaceful and prosperous Northeast Asia. The war also established important technological and medical advances; and
Whereas, two years after President Harry Truman's 1948 order that opened the door to integrating the military, the Korean War began with many segregated units. By the end of the war, all were integrated with diverse troops, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian-Pacific Islanders; and
Whereas, twenty-two nations aided South Korea, thus helping this threatened country to maintain its independence in the face of the communist onslaught from North Korea; and
Whereas, stories of such engagements as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir provided heroes on whose shoulders all members of the armed forces have stood. For seventeen days of brutal fighting in freezing weather, UN forces totaling thirty thousand, including the United States X Corps, battled some sixty-seven thousand surrounding Chinese troops. Although greatly outnumbered, the UN forces broke out of the encirclement and inflicted crippling losses on the Chinese; and
Whereas, July 27, 2017, marks the sixty-fourth anniversary of the negotiated armistice that ended the Korean War, which began June 25, 1950, when communist North Korea invaded democratic South Korea and claimed an estimated five million casualties, the vast majority of them civilians; and
Whereas, proud to add their voices of grateful praise to those of multitudes of other patriotic Americans, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly take great pleasure in celebrating South Carolina's Korean War veterans, as well as their fellow veterans across America, who fought so valiantly against the communist threat in North Korea. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the South Carolina General Assembly, by this resolution, recognize and salute the members of the United States Armed Forces who served during the Korean War, express the profound appreciation of a grateful State and nation, and declare Thursday, July 27, 2017, as "Korean War Veterans Day" in South Carolina.
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