2011
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 11-034
       
       
       BY SENATOR(S) Grantham, Aguilar, Bacon, Boyd, Brophy, Cadman,
       Carroll, Foster, Giron, Guzman, Heath, Hodge, Hudak, Jahn, Johnston,
       King K., King S., Lambert, Lundberg, Morse, Newell, Nicholson,
       Renfroe, Roberts, Scheffel, Schwartz, Shaffer B., Spence, Steadman,
       Tochtrop, White, Williams S.;
       also REPRESENTATIVE(S) Barker, Acree, Balmer, Baumgardner,
       Becker, Beezley, Bradford, Brown, Casso, Conti, Coram, Court,
       DelGrosso, Duran, Ferrandino, Fields, Fischer, Gardner B., Gardner D.,
       Gerou, Hamner, Holbert, Hullinghorst, Jones, Joshi, Kagan, Kefalas,
       Kerr A., Kerr J., Labuda, Lee, Levy, Liston, Looper, Massey, McCann,
       Miklosi, Murray, Nikkel, Pabon, Pace, Peniston, Priola, Ramirez,
       Riesberg, Ryden, Schafer S., Scott, Solano, Sonnenberg, Soper,
       Stephens, Summers, Swalm, Swerdfeger, Szabo, Todd, Tyler, Vaad,
       Vigil, Waller, Williams A., Wilson, McNulty.
       
       
          CONCERNING HONORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF
       COLORADANS AND ALL AMERICANS TO WORLD WAR I, AND,
       IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, RECOGNIZING APRIL 6 AS
       "COLORADO VETERANS OF WORLD WAR I DAY". 
       
       
          WHEREAS, The First World War, known then as "The Great War"
       and "The War to End All Wars", broke out in central Europe in the
       summer of 1914, growing to include all of the world's major military
       forces, including some 70 million troops, more than 9 million of whom
       ultimately gave their lives for their respective causes; and
       
          WHEREAS, On the battlefield, twentieth-century technology,
       including the use of tanks, submarines, aircraft, and chemical warfare,
       met with the use of nineteenth-century tactics such as trench warfare,
       leading to casualties and destruction to a degree the world had not yet
       known; and
       
          WHEREAS, The intervention of the United States in World War I,
       beginning April 6, 1917, provided invaluable support and manpower to
       the Allied forces at a critical juncture in history; and
       
          WHEREAS, The United States had, to this point, practiced a policy
       of nonintervention in global affairs, but was called to combat in 1917
       following a series of war-like acts by the German government, including
       the sinking of the Lusitania and seven U.S. merchant ships, as well as the
       publication of the Zimmerman Telegram, a provocative correspondence
       between the governments of Germany and Mexico; and
       
          WHEREAS, In response to these acts of aggression, the United States
       came into its own as a world military power, instituting the Selective
       Service Act, which drafted 2.8 million young men to fight overseas as
       defenders, liberators, and promoters of peace and democracy; and
       
          WHEREAS, In total, the United States contributed more than 4
       million military personnel to the war effort, with 234,428 of those young
       men wounded in battle and 116,516 young men making the ultimate
       sacrifice for the causes of freedom and global democracy; and
       
          WHEREAS, The state of Colorado contributed 42,898 men and
       women to the war effort; of those brave souls, 1,091 were killed or died
       of wounds received in battle; and
       
          WHEREAS, Notable among those Coloradans called to fight overseas
       were:
       
               Captain Frederick Libby, born in 1892 in Sterling, Colorado, who
               joined the Canadian Army at the outbreak of World War I and
               served as an ambulance driver in France before joining the Royal
               Flying Corps in the service of the United Kingdom; Libby is
               credited with 14 aerial victories and became the first United States
               citizen to be recognized as a World War I flying Ace and Double
               Ace; and
       
               Captain Jerry Cox Vasconcells, born in 1892 and a graduate of
               Denver's East High School, who, while piloting his biplane in
               enemy territory, downed five enemy planes and an enemy balloon,
               becoming Colorado's only U.S. Army Air Corps World War I
               flying Ace; and
       
               Second Lieutenant Francis Lowry, born in 1894 in Denver,
               Colorado, who, while flying over enemy territory on photographic
               reconnaissance, was killed by a German anti-aircraft battery; it
               was Lowry's 33rd mission, and he was posthumously awarded the
               Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest military
               decoration that can be given to a member of the United States
               Army; and
       
               Lieutenant William Fitzsimons, born in 1889 and considered to be
               the first American officer killed in World War I; in 1920, Army
               Hospital 21 in Aurora, Colorado, was officially renamed the
               Fitzsimons Army Hospital in his honor; and
       
          WHEREAS, World War I, with its unprecedented devastation of many
       of Europe's cities and much of Europe's population, came to an end on
       November 11, 1918, with the signing of an armistice between Germany
       and the Allied Powers; the day became known as Armistice Day, and later
       as Veterans Day, in the United States; and
       
          WHEREAS, On February 27, 2011, Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last
       surviving member of the United States military who served his nation in
       World War I, passed away at his West Virginia farm at the age of 110;
       and
       
          WHEREAS, Mr. Buckles enlisted in the military at the age of 16,
       serving as an ambulance driver for the United States Army; he went on
       to serve again in World War II, where, while fighting in the Pacific
       theatre, he was captured and imprisoned for 39 months as a prisoner of
       war in the Philippines; and
       
          WHEREAS, Mr. Buckles and the millions of other young Americans
       who fought overseas during World War I are true patriots, whose bravery
       and sacrifice should never be forgotten; now, therefore,
       
          Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty-eighth General Assembly of
       the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:
       
          That we, the members of the General Assembly:
       
          (1)  Take this opportunity, on the occasion of the 94th anniversary of
       the American entry into World War I and the recent death of Frank
       Woodruff Buckles, to reflect on the passing of a great and selfless
       generation and on the contributions of those millions of young Americans
       who fought so humbly and with such commitment when called to duty by
       their country; and
       
          (2)  Honor and remember those soldiers from the state of Colorado
       who served in the First World War, who shall survive in our collective
       memory as representatives of the American ideals of citizenship and
       courage; and
       
          (3)  Recognize April 6, 2011, to be "Colorado Veterans of World War
       I Day" in the state.
       
                    Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to
       the Honorable John Hickenlooper, Governor, State of Colorado; the
       Honorable Earl Ray Tomblin, Governor, State of West Virginia;
       Lieutenant General Michael Gould, Superintendent, United States Air
       Force Academy; Major General H. Michael Edwards, Adjutant General
       of Colorado; Major General David Perkins, Commanding General, 4th
       Infantry Division and Fort Carson; Colonel Clinton Crosier, Commander
       of the 460th Space Wing; Colonel Wayne Monteith, Commander, 50th
       Space Wing, Schriever Air Force Base; Colonel Stephen Whiting,
       Commander, 21st Space Wing, Peterson Air Force Base; the Colorado
       Board of Veterans Affairs; the United Veterans Committee of Colorado;
       the American Legion Department of Colorado; each member of the
       Colorado Congressional delegation; and the Colorado Veterans of
       Foreign Wars for publication on its web site.
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Brandon C. Shaffer                     Frank McNulty
       PRESIDENT OF                    SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
       THE SENATE                        OF REPRESENTATIVES
       
       
       
       
       
       
       ____________________________  ____________________________
       Cindi Markwell                        Marilyn Eddins
       SECRETARY OF                CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
       THE SENATE                        OF REPRESENTATIVES