Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SCR26 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	By: Fraser, et al. S.C.R. No. 26
2		-	(King of Taylor)
	1	+	S.C.R. No. 26
3	2
4	3
5	4		SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	5		WHEREAS, The Texas Legislative Medal of Honor was established
7	6		to recognize gallant and intrepid service by a member of the state
8	7		or federal military forces, and Lieutenant Colonel Ed Dyess, a
9	8		highly decorated aviator and warrior called "the One-Man Scourge of
10	9		the Japanese" during World War II due to his remarkable adaptive
11	10		ability to fight a relentless, ruthless enemy in the Pacific
12	11		Theater as a combat pilot, infantry commander, prisoner of war, and
13	12		guerrilla, would be a fitting recipient of this prestigious award;
14	13		and
15	14		WHEREAS, Born in Albany, Shackelford County, on August 9,
16	15		1916, William Edwin Dyess exhibited natural leadership skills as
17	16		the student body president at Albany High School and as the class
18	17		president and commander of the R.O.T.C. detachment at John Tarleton
19	18		Agricultural College (now Tarleton State University); a
20	19		distinguished graduate of the flight schools at Randolph Field,
21	20		known as "the West Point of the Air," and Kelly Field in San
22	21		Antonio, Dyess was appointed commanding officer of the 21st Pursuit
23	22		Squadron and deployed to the Philippine Islands in 1941, where he
24	23		would become one of the first Americans to engage the enemy in World
25	24		War II; and
26	25		WHEREAS, During the early phase of the Pacific War, First
27	26		Lieutenant Dyess shot down six enemy planes, actions that would
28	27		have classified him as an "ace" if not for the lack of gun cameras
29	28		and the destruction by American forces of military records to
30	29		prevent them from falling into enemy hands; in late January 1942,
31	30		during an emergency shortage of combat aircraft, Dyess demonstrated
32	31		exceptional skill as a marksman and motivator as he led his
33	32		ill-equipped and inexperienced squadron of airmen in infantry
34	33		combat through the jungles of the Bataan Peninsula during the
35	34		"Battle of the Points"; and
36	35		WHEREAS, On February 8, 1942, Captain Dyess volunteered to
37	36		lead America's first amphibious landing of World War II, at
38	37		Agloloma Bay, to root out two enemy battalions that had entrenched
39	38		themselves with orders from Japanese commanding General Masaharu
40	39		Homma to wreak havoc behind the Filipino-American lines; Dyess was
41	40		the first man ashore, selflessly exposing himself to enemy fire
42	41		while engaging enemy positions with a Lewis machine gun and
43	42		motivating his apprehensive 20-man force to join him; amidst
44	43		exploding bombs, Dyess and his party secured the beachhead using
45	44		automatic weapons and hand grenades and eliminated approximately 75
46	45		heavily armed, elite Japanese troops who had fortified themselves
47	46		in caves; the failure of General Homma's operation allowed American
48	47		forces in the Philippines to hold out a few months longer, trapping
49	48		enemy resources and giving America time to mobilize in the wake of
50	49		the attack on Pearl Harbor; and
51	50		WHEREAS, On March 2, 1942, Dyess led nine pilots flying five
52	51		battered warplanes in a daring raid on the enemy supply depot at
53	52		Subic Bay, Luzon; flying a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk rigged to carry
54	53		500-pound bombs, Dyess braved heavy antiaircraft fire, engaged an
55	54		enemy cruiser, and ultimately destroyed one 12,000-ton transport,
56	55		one 6,000-ton vessel, at least two 100-ton motor launches, and a
57	56		handful of barges and lighters; in order to save face, Radio Tokyo
58	57		reported that 54 bombers and swarms of fighter planes had been
59	58		responsible for the attack; Dyess was presented with the
60	59		Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest military
61	60		decoration that can be awarded, for the extraordinary heroism that
62	61		he displayed on this occasion; and
63	62		WHEREAS, Although many officers began to shirk their duties
64	63		and pull rank as the military situation deteriorated, Dyess worked
65	64		hard to boost the morale of his men, cleaning cockpits and flying
66	65		countless reconnaissance, resupply, and evacuation missions; he
67	66		sometimes flew up to 1,400 miles through enemy skies to bring back
68	67		desperately needed medicines and telegrams for his men; and
69	68		WHEREAS, Dyess refused multiple opportunities to leave the
70	69		doomed Bataan Peninsula and endeavored to ensure others were
71	70		evacuated before him; Dyess personally supervised the boarding of
72	71		evacuees on the last flyable aircraft on Bataan; the final seat was
73	72		reserved for Dyess himself, but at the last second he ordered a
74	73		friend onto the plane in his stead; and
75	74		WHEREAS, After the surrender of 75,000 American and Filipino
76	75		troops on Bataan on April 9, 1942, Dyess endured the most horrific
77	76		war crime in the history of the United States, the Bataan Death
78	77		March; Dyess watched as prisoners of war were denied water and
79	78		medical care, beaten, beheaded, whipped, shot, buried alive, run
80	79		over by tanks, and used for bayonet practice; due to his height,
81	80		fair complexion, and status as an officer, Dyess was singled out for
82	81		mistreatment and suffered through savage beatings; despite this,
83	82		Dyess shepherded his men forward, helped the wounded, and noted the
84	83		horrors taking place around him so that he could describe them in a
85	84		firsthand account; for the next six months, Dyess endured
86	85		starvation, disease, interrogation, and torture in two squalid
87	86		prison camps on Luzon, where he continued to encourage and aid his
88	87		fellow prisoners, smuggling food and medicine to those in need; and
89	88		WHEREAS, In November 1942, Captain Dyess arrived at the Davao
90	89		Penal Colony, known as "Dapecol," a reportedly escape-proof prison
91	90		plantation where 2,000 American prisoners of war were being forced
92	91		to work as slave laborers; while at Dapecol, Dyess co-organized a
93	92		team of United States military personnel to execute the only
94	93		large-scale prison break of prisoners of war in the Pacific War;
95	94		Dyess volunteered for the dangerous task of transporting the escape
96	95		party's gear on a bull cart past multiple guard checkpoints; on
97	96		April 4, 1943, the "Davao Dozen," 10 American prisoners of war and
98	97		two Filipino convicts, made their amazing escape through a deep,
99	98		crocodile-infested swamp; after eluding search parties, Dyess
100	99		fought alongside Filipino guerrilla forces behind enemy lines
101	100		before evacuating to Australia in July 1943; he received a
102	101		promotion to major and was personally presented with his second
103	102		Distinguished Service Cross, in the form of a Bronze Oak Leaf
104	103		Cluster, by General MacArthur on July 30, 1943; and
105	104		WHEREAS, Dyess would have enjoyed a hero's welcome had his
106	105		superiors not consigned him to a military hospital in the mountains
107	106		of West Virginia, where he was subjected to secret debriefings by
108	107		government officials; he was sequestered there because the
109	108		government feared that his story, if released to the public, would
110	109		jeopardize the "Europe First" strategic policy and Pacific prisoner
111	110		of war relief efforts of the Allies; despite suffering from
112	111		depression and severe post-traumatic stress disorder, Dyess was
113	112		determined to make his account of the Bataan Death March and other
114	113		atrocities known to the public, and he entered into a publishing
115	114		agreement with the Chicago Tribune; his epic story, trumpeted by
116	115		the War Department as "The Greatest Story of the War in the
117	116		Pacific," was eventually released on January 28, 1944, skillfully
118	117		timed to harness the full fury of America's anger; stagnant war bond
119	118		sales and service enlistment numbers soared as Dyess's revelations
120	119		forced America out of a mid-war complacency; and
121	120		WHEREAS, Lieutenant Colonel Dyess never lived to see his
122	121		remarkable story take hold of America; during a routine flight over
123	122		Los Angeles on December 22, 1943, his P-38 Lightning began to have
124	123		engine trouble; rather than bailing out and letting his plane
125	124		careen into a crowded residential area, Dyess attempted an
126	125		emergency city street landing, but he pulled up at the last moment
127	126		to avoid hitting a motorist who had strayed into his path; while
128	127		attempting to guide his crippled aircraft onto a vacant lot, he
129	128		struck a church and was killed instantly when his plane crashed;
130	129		Dyess was awarded the Soldier's Medal posthumously in recognition
131	130		of a heroic act not involving an armed enemy; Dyess's family
132	131		resisted the public's clamor for his interment at Arlington
133	132		National Cemetery and instead buried him in his beloved home state
134	133		in the Albany Cemetery; to this day, the only public recognition of
135	134		Dyess and his incredible life was the renaming of Abilene Air Force
136	135		Base to Dyess Air Force Base in 1956; and
137	136		WHEREAS, Lieutenant Colonel Ed Dyess risked his life
138	137		repeatedly in defense of his country, and he put the welfare of his
139	138		fellow prisoners of war ahead of his own; he revealed to the
140	139		American people a vital aspect of the war, and he ultimately
141	140		sacrificed his own life to save the life of another; he is most
142	141		assuredly deserving of this state's supreme military award; now,
143	142		therefore, be it
144	143		RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas
145	144		hereby direct the governor of the State of Texas to award the Texas
146	145		Legislative Medal of Honor posthumously to Lieutenant Colonel Ed
147	146		Dyess in recognition of his extraordinary military service and
148	147		remarkable succession of valorous acts in World War II.
	148	+	______________________________ ______________________________
	149	+	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
	150	+	I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 26 was adopted by the Senate
	151	+	on May 14, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	152	+	______________________________
	153	+	Secretary of the Senate
	154	+	I hereby certify that S.C.R. No. 26 was adopted by the House
	155	+	on May 22, 2015, by the following vote: Yeas 140, Nays 0,
	156	+	two present not voting.
	157	+	______________________________
	158	+	Chief Clerk of the House
	159	+	Approved:
	160	+	______________________________
	161	+	Date
	162	+	______________________________
	163	+	Governor