Senate Joint Resolution
No. 29
CHAPTER 104
Relative to Korean War Veterans.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
September 26, 1995.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SJR 29, Haynes.
Korean War Veterans.
This measure would commend the efforts of Veterans of the Korean War and would commend the President, Congress, and others for efforts in establishing the Washington, D.C. Korean War Veterans Memorial, and would memorialize the President and Congress of the United States to take further action necessary to ensure that the Korean War does not again become a “forgotten war.”
Digest Key
WHEREAS, The 1.5 million Americans who served in the “Forgotten War” have waited too long to be recognized for their sacrifices; and
WHEREAS, The 54,000 soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for democracy deserve our thanks and respect; and
WHEREAS, The 8,168 Americans who remain missing-in-action should always remain in our memories; and
WHEREAS, It is appropriate that the Veterans of the Korean War be commemorated for their heroic efforts in that struggle for democracy; and
WHEREAS, In October 1986, Congress passed legislation authorizing the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a memorial on federal land in or near Washington, D.C. to honor the military personnel who served in the Korean War; and
WHEREAS, In October 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law a measure authorizing the establishment of the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C., and Congress earmarked $1 million, to be repaid to the federal government, to start the project originally estimated to cost $5 million; and
WHEREAS, On June 14, 1992, President George Bush broke ground for the Korean War Memorial, on a 2.2-acre plot on the National Mall on a plot of former marshlands at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial; and
WHEREAS, On August 17, 1995, the President and South Korean President Kim Young-sam, joined by ambassadors from the 21 nations that supported the United Nations resolution opposing North Korea’s invasion of South Korea, dedicated the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, The memorial consists of 19 seven-foot tall statues of roughened stainless steel with a dark patina weighing nearly 1,000 pounds each, depicting American soldiers advancing toward the American Flag; and
WHEREAS, The memorial represents all of the services that fought in the war: 14 Army infantrymen, three Marines, one Navy medic, and one Air Force forward observer; and
WHEREAS, The memorial includes a 164-foot long, eight-foot thick, polished granite wall weighing over 100 tons; and
WHEREAS, The wall is made of “academy black” granite from California, and contains over 2,500 images representing the land, sea, and air troops; and
WHEREAS, The memorial includes a highly reflective black granite reflecting pool; and
WHEREAS, Ray Davis, a retired Marine Corps general and Chairman of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Dedication Foundation stated that establishment of the memorial will be “a positive, uplifting, permanent kind of memorial. It will not age in that visitors see there, in almost perfect form, those that served the cause of freedom”; and
WHEREAS, California commends these and other efforts to commemorate and place in a proper place of honor, a memorial to the great sacrifices that were made by those who fought for freedom and democracy during this heretofore “forgotten war”; now, therefore be it
Resolved by the Senate and Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California commemorates those who fought in the Korean War, and applauds the President and the Congress of the United States, the Korean War Veterans Memorial Dedication Foundation, and others who supported this effort for their accomplishments in making the Washington, D.C. Korean War Memorial a reality; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully memorializes the President and the Congress of the United States to take further action, as appropriate, to ensure that the Korean War does not again become a “forgotten war”; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, to the Korean War Veterans Memorial Dedication Foundation, and a suitably prepared copy to the author for distribution, as appropriate.