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| 3 | 4 | | |
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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, The year 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the end |
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| 6 | 7 | | of a decades-long conflict in Vietnam, during which American |
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| 7 | 8 | | service personnel fought alongside South Vietnamese troops to |
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| 8 | 9 | | defend the cause of freedom; and |
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| 9 | 10 | | WHEREAS, Concerned about the threat of a Communist takeover |
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| 10 | 11 | | in Vietnam, the United States began sending material support to the |
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| 11 | 12 | | French forces in that country in 1950, and the flow of military aid |
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| 12 | 13 | | and advisors continued after the French withdrew and Vietnam was |
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| 13 | 14 | | divided in 1954; the number of advisors climbed significantly in |
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| 14 | 15 | | the early 1960s, and in 1962, American helicopter units began to |
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| 15 | 16 | | transport South Vietnamese soldiers in military operations; three |
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| 16 | 17 | | years later, the first American combat troops landed on South |
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| 17 | 18 | | Vietnamese soil; ultimately, more than 2.5 million Americans served |
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| 18 | 19 | | in South Vietnam, with 500,000 seeing actual fighting, and over 3.4 |
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| 19 | 20 | | million served in Southeast Asia; and |
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| 20 | 21 | | WHEREAS, During the course of the conflict, more than 58,000 |
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| 21 | 22 | | American service members lost their lives and over 150,000 were |
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| 22 | 23 | | seriously wounded; some 2,500 were listed as missing in action, |
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| 23 | 24 | | many of whom remain unaccounted for; losses among South Vietnamese |
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| 24 | 25 | | forces are estimated at a quarter of a million killed and perhaps as |
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| 25 | 26 | | many badly injured, and countless civilians perished; and |
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| 26 | 27 | | WHEREAS, American military involvement in the war ended with |
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| 27 | 28 | | the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973; a few U.S. |
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| 28 | 29 | | troops remained in South Vietnam to guard the American Embassy in |
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| 29 | 30 | | Saigon, but the last of those were withdrawn on April 30, 1975, |
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| 30 | 31 | | hours before the North Vietnamese Army captured the city; in the |
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| 31 | 32 | | days before Saigon fell, approximately 135,000 Vietnamese were |
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| 32 | 33 | | evacuated stateside, most of them military personnel and urban, |
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| 33 | 34 | | educated professionals whose previous associations made them |
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| 34 | 35 | | targets of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese; and |
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| 35 | 36 | | WHEREAS, Over the ensuing decade, the Communists tightened |
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| 36 | 37 | | their grip on the country and 840,000 more people fled, according to |
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| 37 | 38 | | the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; some crossed |
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| 38 | 39 | | Cambodia and Laos to reach Thailand, while hundreds of thousands |
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| 39 | 40 | | risked their lives in small, wooden boats; although a large number |
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| 40 | 41 | | reached refugee camps in such places as Thailand, Malaysia, |
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| 41 | 42 | | Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, over 250,000 died at sea |
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| 42 | 43 | | as a result of storms, illness, starvation, or capture by pirates; |
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| 43 | 44 | | and |
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| 44 | 45 | | WHEREAS, The United States has continued to welcome |
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| 45 | 46 | | immigrants from Vietnam; by 2012, this population had reached |
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| 46 | 47 | | almost 1.3 million and constituted the sixth-largest foreign-born |
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| 47 | 48 | | group in the nation; Texas is now home to well over 200,000 |
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| 48 | 49 | | Vietnamese Americans, who have made substantial contributions to |
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| 49 | 50 | | the economy, education, public service, science, medicine, the |
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| 50 | 51 | | arts, and many other aspects of society; and |
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| 51 | 52 | | WHEREAS, The observance of this anniversary reminds us of the |
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| 52 | 53 | | magnitude of the sacrifices made and hardships endured in the quest |
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| 53 | 54 | | for freedom, and we pay tribute to those whose lives were lost and |
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| 54 | 55 | | recognize the courage and determination of the Vietnamese people |
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| 55 | 56 | | who came to these shores in search of a better life; now, therefore, |
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| 56 | 57 | | be it |
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| 57 | 58 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
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| 58 | 59 | | Legislature hereby commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of |
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| 59 | 60 | | the war in Vietnam. |
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