2015 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 55
BY SENATORS ADLEY, ALARIO, ALLAIN, AMEDEE, APPEL, BROOME, BROWN,
BUFFINGTON, CHABERT, CLAITOR, CORTEZ, CROWE,
DONAHUE, DORSEY-COLOMB, ERDEY, GALLOT, GUILLORY,
HEITMEIER, JOHNS, KOSTELKA, LAFLEUR, LONG, MARTINY,
MILLS, MORRELL, MORRISH, MURRAY, NEVERS, PEACOCK,
PERRY, PETERSON, RISER, GARY SMITH, JOHN SMITH,
TARVER, THOMPSON, WALSWORTH, WARD AND WHITE
A RESOLUTION
To commend Peter A. Curcio Sr. for his brave service in the United States Marine Corps
during the Korean War.
WHEREAS, Peter A. Curcio Sr. is a native of Brusly, Louisiana, born December 18,
1929, to a humble farming family that sold vegetables they grew out of a roadside truck and
shrimped in the Mississippi River and sold the seafood they caught; and
WHEREAS, Peter A. "Pete" Curcio graduated from Brusly High School, began
working for the U.S. Postal Service, and served as a runner at the Louisiana State Capitol;
however, he wanted to enlist in the United States Marine Corps because he believed it was
the toughest of all the U.S. Armed Forces; and
WHEREAS, Pete Curcio entered the Marine Corps at the age of eighteen and
completed the difficult thirteen-week boot camp in Paris Island, South Carolina, and later
went to McAlester, Oklahoma, and Camp Pendleton, California, for advanced weapons
training that led to a brush with fate as he and his unit were picked as extras in the John
Wayne movie, The Sands of Iwo Jima; and
WHEREAS, Pete headed for one of his greatest adventures in August 1950 when he
was ordered to board a ship sailing to Pusan, South Korea, and stop an enemy drive that
threatened American troops; and
WHEREAS, Pete and his unit rejoined the 1st Marine Division as part of E
Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and came ashore at the famous site of the
Inchon landing with the second wave on Red Beach in an operation involving more than
three hundred ships; and
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WHEREAS, he would subsequently earn the rank of sergeant after campaigns to
capture Seoul, South Korea, and take Kimpo Air Base, where several Chinese MiG aircrafts
were captured, disassembled, and flown to America in so-called "Flying Boxcars" for study;
and
WHEREAS, Sgt. Curcio Sr. fought in house-to-house combat in Seoul, but one of
his toughest battles was at the Chosin Reservoir with temperatures plunging to thirty below
zero and hordes of Chinese troops surrounding the marines, remembered as the
"Chosin Few", who refused to surrender and furiously continued to fight despite heavy
casualties; and
WHEREAS, Sgt. Curcio Sr. suffered from frostbite to his feet during the continuous
fighting and he was flown to Pensacola, Florida, where his recovery took five months and
he was later honorably discharged; and
WHEREAS, his awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, the Presidential
Unit Citation, the United Nations Service Medal, the United States Korean War Service
Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon, and the Expert Marksman
Badge.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby extend its highest commendations and congratulations to U.S.M.C. Sergeant
Peter A. Curcio Sr. for his brave and dedicated service to his country during the Korean War.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Peter A. Curcio Sr.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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