*HC1030*
Introduced Version
HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION No. ____
DIGEST OF INTRODUCED RESOL UTION
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION honoring Morris
Ruffin.
Pryor, Shackleford, Bartlett, Harris,
Hatcher, Jackson, Pack, Porter,
Smith V, Summers
_______________________, read first time and referred to Committee on
20222506
2022 HC 1030/DI 140 Introduced
Second Regular Session of the 122nd General Assembly (2022)
HOUSE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION No. ____
1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION honoring Morris Ruffin.
2 Whereas, Morris Ruffin was born on September 5, 1926, in
3 Caddo Pass, Louisiana, as the second of nine children to
4 Clarence and Mary Ruffin. After the passing of his mother at a
5 young age, Morris assumed the duties of his late mother and
6 helped to raise his younger siblings;
7 Whereas, Morris enlisted in the United States Marine Corps
8 in March 1942 during World War II and was stationed at Camp
9 Lejeune, North Carolina, where he served under, and was
10 trained by, Sergeant Major Gilbert "Hashmark" Johnson, one
11 of the first black men to serve and lead Marines in combat.
12 Morris served one enlistment as a cook and was honorably
13 discharged in 1946 at the rank of Private First Class. Morris
14 took great pride in his time in the Marine Corps and his
15 experience as a cook;
16 Whereas, Morris was always an impeccably dressed man and
17 carried himself with great pride, no matter his station in life. It
18 was this image that caught the eye of his future wife, Verdel
19 Darden, whom he met on a bus in Texas, where she mistook
20 him for a doctor at the hospital where he worked as a janitor;
21 Whereas, After marrying Verdel, Morris and his wife
22 migrated north to Flint, Michigan, where he took a job with
23 General Motors while Verdel became a schoolteacher. Both
24 positions became their careers as they reared four children:
25 Harriet, Charles, Morris, and Renee. Morris retired from
26 General Motors after 34 years of dedicated service, being as
27 proud of this service as he was of his time in the Marine Corps;
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1 Whereas, Morris spent his retirement years tending to his
2 family and grandchildren, whom he ensured were always well
3 taken care of and looked after. He passed away in July 2004
4 and will be posthumously awarded the Montford Point Marine
5 Congressional Gold Medal this February as a member of the
6 Montford Point Marines, who honorably served as the first
7 African Americans in the United States Marine Corps. It is an
8 honor that Morris did not seek, but an honor that he earned as
9 a trailblazer and honorable American serving his country in a
10 time of need. It was this sense of service Morris carried with
11 him his entire life;
12 Whereas, Morris Ruffin's service to this country paved the
13 way for many more men of color like him to serve his country
14 honorably, including his grandson, combat veteran Marine
15 Corps Sgt. Reginald L. Moore, who served from 1993 to 2005,
16 a fellow Hoosier who joined the Marine Corps out of Muncie,
17 Indiana; and
18 Whereas, Today we honor Private First Class Morris Ruffin,
19 a son, a brother, a husband, a grandfather, and one of the first
20 men of color to earn the title of Marine: Therefore,
21 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives
22 of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana,
23 the Senate concurring:
24 SECTION 1. That the Indiana General Assembly honors
25 Private First Class Morris Ruffin as he is posthumously
26 awarded the Montford Point Marine Congressional Gold Medal.
27 SECTION 2. That the Principal Clerk of the House of
28 Representatives shall transmit copies of this resolution to
29 Representative Cherrish Pryor.
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