SLS 15RS-945 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 55
BY SENATOR ADLEY
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Peter A. Curcio Sr. for his brave service in the United
States Marine Corps during the Korean War.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend Peter A. Curcio Sr. for his brave service in the United States Marine Corps
3 during the Korean War.
4 WHEREAS, Peter A. Curcio Sr. is a native of Brusly, Louisiana, born December 18,
5 1929, to a humble farming family that sold vegetables they grew out of a roadside truck and
6 shrimped in the Mississippi River and sold the seafood they caught; and
7 WHEREAS, Peter A. "Pete" Curcio graduated from Brusly High School, began
8 working for the U.S. Postal Service, and served as a runner at the Louisiana State Capitol;
9 however, he wanted to enlist in the United States Marine Corps because he believed it was
10 the toughest of all the U.S. Armed Forces; and
11 WHEREAS, Pete Curcio entered the Marine Corps at the age of eighteen and
12 completed the difficult thirteen-week boot camp in Paris Island, South Carolina, and later
13 went to McAlester, Oklahoma, and Camp Pendleton, California, for advanced weapons
14 training that led to a brush with fate as he and his unit were picked as extras in the John
15 Wayne movie, The Sands of Iwo Jima; and
16 WHEREAS, Pete headed for one of his greatest adventures in August 1950 when he
17 was ordered to board a ship sailing to Pusan, South Korea, and stop an enemy drive that
18 threatened American troops; and
Page 1 of 2 SR NO. 55
SLS 15RS-945 ORIGINAL
1 WHEREAS, Pete and his unit rejoined the 1st Marine Division as part of E
2 Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and came ashore at the famous site of the
3 Inchon landing with the second wave on Red Beach in an operation involving more than
4 three hundred ships; and
5 WHEREAS, he would subsequently earn the rank of sergeant after campaigns to
6 capture Seoul, South Korea, and take Kimpo Air Base, where several Chinese MiG aircrafts
7 were captured, disassembled, and flown to America in so-called "Flying Boxcars" for study;
8 and
9 WHEREAS, Sgt. Curcio Sr. fought in house-to-house combat in Seoul, but one of
10 his toughest battles was at the Chosin Reservoir with temperatures plunging to thirty below
11 zero and hordes of Chinese troops surrounding the marines, remembered as the "Chosin
12 Few", who refused to surrender and furiously continued to fight despite heavy casualties;
13 and
14 WHEREAS, Sgt. Curcio Sr. suffered from frostbite to his feet during the continuous
15 fighting and he was flown to Pensacola, Florida, where his recovery took five months and
16 he was later honorably discharged; and
17 WHEREAS, his awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, the Presidential
18 Unit Citation, the United Nations Service Medal, the United States Korean War Service
19 Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, and the Expert Marksman
20 Badge.
21 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
22 does hereby extend its highest commendations and congratulations to U.S.M.C. Sergeant
23 Peter A. Curcio Sr. for his brave and dedicated service to his country during the Korean War.
24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
25 Peter A. Curcio Sr.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Heyward Jeffers.
DIGEST
SR 55 Original 2015 Regular Session Adley
Commends U.S.M.C. Sgt. Peter A. Curcio Sr. for his brave service in the Korean War.
Page 2 of 2