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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 770 FILED ON: 1/17/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3505 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Patricia A. Haddad |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying |
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| 12 | 12 | | resolve: |
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| 13 | 13 | | Resolve relative to recognition for the naval armed guard service. |
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| 14 | 14 | | _______________ |
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| 15 | 15 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 16 | 16 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Patricia A. Haddad5th Bristol1/17/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 770 FILED ON: 1/17/2023 |
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| 18 | 18 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3505 |
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| 19 | 19 | | By Representative Haddad of Somerset, a petition (accompanied by resolve, House, No. 3505) of |
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| 20 | 20 | | Patricia A. Haddad relative to recognition for the Naval Armed Guard Service. Veterans and |
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| 21 | 21 | | Federal Affairs. |
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| 22 | 22 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 23 | 23 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 3659 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 24 | 24 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 27 | 27 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 28 | 28 | | _______________ |
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| 29 | 29 | | Resolve relative to recognition for the naval armed guard service. |
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| 30 | 30 | | 1 Resolved, 1.) The Great and General Court of Massachusetts, hereby Resolves that we |
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| 31 | 31 | | 2recognize the service of the naval personnel who served in the Naval Armed Guard Service and |
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| 32 | 32 | | 3expresses its appreciation, and the appreciation of the American people, for the dedicated service |
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| 33 | 33 | | 4performed during World War I and World War II by members of the Navy assigned as gun |
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| 34 | 34 | | 5crews on board merchant ships as part of the Naval Armed Guard Service. |
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| 35 | 35 | | 6 2.) The Navy established a special force during both World War I and World War II, |
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| 36 | 36 | | 7known as the Naval Armed Guard Service, to protect merchant ships of the United States from |
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| 37 | 37 | | 8enemy attack by stationing members of the Navy and weapons on board those ships. |
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| 38 | 38 | | 9 3.) Members of the Naval Armed Guard Service served on 6,236 merchant ships during |
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| 39 | 39 | | 10World War II, of which 710 were sunk by enemy action. 2 of 2 |
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| 40 | 40 | | 11 4.) Over 144,900 members of the Navy served in the Naval Armed Guard Service during |
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| 41 | 41 | | 12World War II as officers, gun crewmen, signalmen, and radiomen, of whom 1,810 were killed in |
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| 42 | 42 | | 13action. |
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| 43 | 43 | | 14 5.) The efforts of the members of the Naval Armed Guard Service played a significant |
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| 44 | 44 | | 15role in the safe passage of United States merchant ships to their destinations in the Soviet Union |
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| 45 | 45 | | 16and various locations in western Europe and the Pacific Theater. |
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| 46 | 46 | | 17 6.) The efforts of the members of the Navy who served in the Naval Armed Guard |
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| 47 | 47 | | 18Service have been largely overlooked due to the rapid disbanding of the service after World War |
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| 48 | 48 | | 19II and lack of adequate records. |
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