2017 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 90
BY SENATORS PERRY, ALARIO, ALLAIN, APPEL, BARROW, BISHOP,
BOUDREAUX, CARTER, CHABERT, CLAITOR, COLOMB,
CORTEZ, DONAHUE, ERDEY, FANNIN, GATTI, HEWITT, JOHNS,
LAFLEUR, LAMBERT, LONG, LUNEAU, MARTINY, MILKOVICH,
MILLS, MIZELL, MORRELL, MORRISH, PEACOCK, PETERSON,
RISER, GARY SMITH, JOHN SMITH, TARVER, THOMPSON,
WALSWORTH, WARD AND WHITE
A RESOLUTION
To extend the sincere condolences of the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana to the family
of United States Air Force Master Sergeant Austin Dallie Bennett upon his death
while in the service of his country.
WHEREAS, Master Sergeant Bennett was a resident of Roseland, Louisiana, when
he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at the conclusion of World War II and began a
distinguished military career; and
WHEREAS, MSG. Bennett held high level positions, and his many responsibilities
took him around the world where he learned much of the unique cultures and people that
were very different from the rural farms and people of Tangipahoa Parish; and
WHEREAS, MSG. Bennett trained hard and mastered the duties and responsibilities
of the missile command that was part of the highly technical, newest branch of the armed
forces; and
WHEREAS, he assumed the duties of a senior noncommissioned officer with the
390th Missile Maintenance Squadron of the Strategic Air Command, at Davis-Mothan Air
Force Base located near Tucson, Arizona; and
WHEREAS, MSG. Bennett used the air base as a center for control of operations to
maintain a new fleet of missiles that would ensure the safety of the United States and the rest
of the free world; and
WHEREAS, it was in pursuit of completing this mission that MSG. Bennett was
flying out of McChord Air Force Base in Washington State on June 3, 1963, to work on the
extensive and growing missile system at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, when fate
entered his life; and
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WHEREAS, MSG. Bennett and one hundred other passengers onboard the DC-7
aircraft went down over the Gulf of Alaska approximately sixty miles northwest of Queen
Charlotte Islands, and no remains were ever recovered; and
WHEREAS, MSG. Bennett left behind a wife, Marian, and five small children,
Charles, Barbara, Carol, Donald, and Steven, to remember him, mourn him, and suffer his
absence; and
WHEREAS, MSG. Bennett's awards and decorations included the Army
Commendation Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal 4th Award, the Air Force Longevity
Service Award Ribbon 2nd Award, the World War II Victory Medal, the National Defense
Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal with two Bronze Service Stars, the United Nations
Service Medal, and the Presidential Unit Citation of the Republic of Korea and the World
War II Honorable Service Lapel Button.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby extend its deepest condolences to the family of U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant
Austin D. Bennett for their loss and his sacrifice during the two wars he fought on behalf of
his country.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
family of U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Austin D. Bennett.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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