SLS 15RS-454 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 48
BY SENATOR ADLEY
CONDOLENCES. Expresses condolences of the Louisiana Senate on the death of Louisiana
Army National Guard Pilot Chief Warrant Officer Four George Wayne Griffin Jr.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To express the sincere condolences of the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana to the
3 family of Louisiana Army National Guard Pilot Chief Warrant Officer Four George
4 Wayne Griffin Jr. upon his death.
5 WHEREAS, Chief Warrant Officer Four George Wayne Griffin Jr. was a native of
6 Delhi, Louisiana, and attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette after his graduation
7 from Acadiana High School; and
8 WHEREAS, CWO4 Griffin Jr. was so drawn to the idea of flying that he studied,
9 trained, and earned his small plane pilot's license when he was only sixteen years old; and
10 WHEREAS, CWO4 Griffin Jr. had a passion for military service early in his life, and
11 decided in 1994 to put college on hold in order to pursue his dream of flying military
12 aircraft; and
13 WHEREAS, CWO4 Griffin Jr. completed his flight training for helicopters at Fort
14 Rucker, Alabama, in 1999, when he was the youngest graduate in his class and was awarded
15 his Basic Aviation Badge and promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer as he began his
16 distinguished twenty-one year career as a military pilot; and
17 WHEREAS, CWO4 Griffin Jr. would ultimately accumulate more than six thousand
18 flight hours in the Black Hawk helicopter and more than one thousand combat hours during
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SLS 15RS-454 ORIGINAL
1 two tours where he bravely served in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004 to 2005 and 2008
2 to 2009; and
3 WHEREAS, CWO4 Griffin Jr. met his wife, Becky, during his military service, and
4 they married soon after he returned from his first tour in Iraq in 2005, and began a family
5 which would soon grow to four children; and
6 WHEREAS, CWO4 Griffin Jr. found himself in quite a different battle after his
7 overseas duty when he and his unit, the 1st Assault Helicopter Battalion, 244th Aviation
8 Regiment, based in Hammond, were deployed to assist in rescue operations following
9 hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Isaac; and
10 WHEREAS, CWO4 Griffin Jr. would also serve in state deployments in support of
11 Operation River Guardian and the Deepwater Horizon disaster following the BP oil spill;
12 and
13 WHEREAS, CWO4 Griffin Jr. awards and decorations from his military service,
14 include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal, National Defense Service Medal with
15 Bronze Service Star, Iraq Campaign Medal with two Bronze Campaign Stars, Global War
16 on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal with Oakleaf Cluster, the
17 Louisiana War Cross, and many other awards, as well as the Combat Action Badge and the
18 Senior Army Aviator Badge; and
19 WHEREAS, CWO4 Griffin was engaged in a night training mission with his crew
20 and a team of seven Marines over the Florida Panhandle on March 10, 2015, when his UH-
21 60M Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the water off the Santa Rosa Sound with no
22 survivors.
23 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
24 does hereby extend its deepest and most profound condolence to the family of Chief Warrant
25 Officer Four George Wayne Griffin Jr. for their loss of a wonderful father, son, and husband
26 as he carried out his duties as a highly trained and elite combat military aviator.
27 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
28 family of CWO4 George Wayne Griffin Jr.
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The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Heyward Jeffers.
DIGEST
SR 48 Original 2015 Regular Session Adley
Expresses condolences upon the death of LANG CWO4 George Wayne Griffin Jr.
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