| 1 | 1 | | Introduced Version |
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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE CONCURRENT |
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| 3 | 3 | | RESOLUTION No. _____ |
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| 4 | 4 | | DIGEST OF INTRODUCED RESOLUTION |
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| 5 | 5 | | A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION honoring the Purple Heart |
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| 6 | 6 | | recipients of the Town of Paoli. |
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| 7 | 7 | | KOCH |
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| 8 | 8 | | , read first time and referred to Committee on |
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| 9 | 9 | | 2024 RC 1501/DI SM Introduced |
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| 10 | 10 | | Second Regular Session 123rd General Assembly (2024) |
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| 11 | 11 | | SENATE CONCURRENT |
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| 12 | 12 | | RESOLUTION No. _____ |
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| 13 | 13 | | 1 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION honoring the Purple |
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| 14 | 14 | | 2 Heart recipients of the Town of Paoli. |
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| 15 | 15 | | 3 Whereas, On August 7, 1782, General George Washington |
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| 16 | 16 | | 4 established the Badge of Military Merit for noncommissioned |
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| 17 | 17 | | 5 officers and privates in the Continental Army who exhibited not |
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| 18 | 18 | | 6 only instances of unusual gallantry in battle, but also |
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| 19 | 19 | | 7 extraordinary fidelity and essential service in any way; |
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| 20 | 20 | | 8 Whereas, The Badge of Merit was awarded to three |
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| 21 | 21 | | 9 sergeants during and shortly following the Revolutionary War |
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| 22 | 22 | | 10 before falling into disuse until World War I; |
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| 23 | 23 | | 11 Whereas, In October of 1927, Army Chief of Staff General |
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| 24 | 24 | | 12 Charles Pelot Summerall directed a draft bill be sent to |
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| 25 | 25 | | 13 Congress to revive the Badge of Military Merit, which was later |
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| 26 | 26 | | 14 tabled until January 7, 1931, when General Douglas |
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| 27 | 27 | | 15 MacArthur and the Washington Commission of Fine Arts began |
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| 28 | 28 | | 16 redesigning and renaming the Badge; |
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| 29 | 29 | | 17 Whereas, On February 22, 1932, the 200th Anniversary of |
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| 30 | 30 | | 18 George Washington's birth, President Herbert Hoover officially |
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| 31 | 31 | | 19 revived the award, renamed the Purple Heart, to be awarded |
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| 32 | 32 | | 20 for meritorious or valorous service in the United States Army; |
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| 33 | 33 | | 21 Whereas, The Purple Heart allowed additional |
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| 34 | 34 | | 22 authorizations to servicemembers who received wounds that |
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| 35 | 35 | | 23 need treatment by a medical officer and received either in |
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| 36 | 36 | | 24 action with an enemy of the United States or as a result of an |
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| 37 | 37 | | 25 act of such enemy that may be construed as resulting from a |
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| 38 | 38 | | 2024 RC 1501/DI SM 2 |
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| 39 | 39 | | 1 singularly meritorious act of essential service; |
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| 40 | 40 | | 2 Whereas, Prior to the United States' entry into World War |
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| 41 | 41 | | 3 II, nearly 78,000 Purple Hearts were retroactively issued to |
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| 42 | 42 | | 4 Army personnel who had been wounded as far back as the Civil |
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| 43 | 43 | | 5 War or had performed meritorious service during World War |
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| 44 | 44 | | 6 I; |
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| 45 | 45 | | 7 Whereas, In 1942, the War Department amended the |
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| 46 | 46 | | 8 citation for the Purple Heart, removing the meritorious service |
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| 47 | 47 | | 9 element, allowing servicemembers killed in action to receive the |
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| 48 | 48 | | 10 award, and authorizing the Navy Department to award the |
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| 49 | 49 | | 11 Purple Heart to any Navy, Marine, or Coast Guard personnel |
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| 50 | 50 | | 12 who were wounded or killed in action beginning on December |
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| 51 | 51 | | 13 7, 1941; |
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| 52 | 52 | | 14 Whereas, To date, it is estimated that more than 1.9 million |
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| 53 | 53 | | 15 servicemembers have been awarded the Purple Heart, with |
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| 54 | 54 | | 16 over 1 million of the recipients being awarded during World |
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| 55 | 55 | | 17 War II; and |
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| 56 | 56 | | 18 Whereas, In recognition of the selfless service and sacrifice |
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| 57 | 57 | | 19 of servicemembers who have received a Purple Heart, on April |
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| 58 | 58 | | 20 19, 2022, the Town of Paoli, Indiana, became the first town in |
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| 59 | 59 | | 21 the State of Indiana to designate Purple Heart recipients and |
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| 60 | 60 | | 22 their families "Purple Star Families" and proclaim the town a |
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| 61 | 61 | | 23 "Purple Star Family Town": Therefore, |
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| 62 | 62 | | 24 Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly |
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| 63 | 63 | | 25 of the State of Indiana, the House of Representatives |
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| 64 | 64 | | 26 concurring: |
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| 65 | 65 | | 27 SECTION 1. The Indiana General Assembly honors the |
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| 66 | 66 | | 28 Purple Heart recipients of the Town of Paoli in furtherance of |
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| 67 | 67 | | 29 liberty and freedom and thanks their family members for their |
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| 68 | 68 | | 30 support and dedication. |
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| 69 | 69 | | 31 SECTION 2. The Secretary of the Senate is hereby directed |
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| 70 | 70 | | 32 to transmit copies of this Resolution to the Town Council of the |
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| 71 | 71 | | 33 Town of Paoli. |
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| 72 | 72 | | 2024 RC 1501/DI SM |
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