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