Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SR800 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 800
2	2	WHEREAS, The 75th anniversary of the commissioning of Camp
3	3	Bowie, the World War II training facility in Brownwood, is being
4	4	celebrated with a symposium and other events on the campus of
5	5	Howard Payne University from September 16 to 18, 2015; and
6	6	WHEREAS, The original Camp Bowie, a World War I training
7	7	camp, was situated near Fort Worth, but on September 19, 1940,
8	8	the United States War Department authorized the construction of a
9	9	new training ground near Brownwood, and on September 27, 1940,
10	10	work began on the site, the first major defense project in Texas
11	11	during the World War II era; at one time, more than 15,000
12	12	laborers were working on the project; and
13	13	WHEREAS, In late 1940, the 36th Infantry Division of the
14	14	Texas Army National Guard, also known as the Texas Division, was
15	15	mobilized, and during 1941 and 1942, its members trained at the
16	16	new camp in Brownwood before transferring to Florida and
17	17	Massachusetts, where they shipped out to join the war in Europe;
18	18	they took part in the landing at Salerno, Italy, in 1943, joining
19	19	the first Allied troops to invade Hitler's Europe, and over the
20	20	course of the war, the division suffered nearly 20,000 casualties,
21	21	including 3,717 men killed in action, 12,685 wounded, and 3,064
22	22	missing in action; and
23	23	WHEREAS, By October 1942, Camp Bowie in Brownwood had grown
24	24	to 123,000 acres in Brown and Mills Counties, with a 5,000-acre
25	25	campsite and another 118,000 acres used for training exercises;
26	26	eight divisions trained at the camp, and many other battalions,
27	27	regiments, and companies passed through to use the training
28	28	grounds; there were never fewer than 30,000 men in the camp at any
29	29	one time, and at one point, its population was 60,000; more than a
30	30	quarter of a million soldiers passed through Camp Bowie between
31	31	1941 and the end of the war; and
32	32	WHEREAS, In August 1943, the camp began to house German
33	33	prisoners of war, many of them veterans of Field Marshal Erwin
34	34	Rommel's famed Afrika Corps; these men performed tasks at the camp
35	35	and also worked as day laborers for local ranchers and farmers; and
36	36	WHEREAS, Camp Bowie was decommissioned in August 1946, and
37	37	in the years since, much of the land has been developed as Camp
38	38	Bowie Industrial Park; the camp's chapels were moved to Eastland
39	39	and Stephenville, and many of its other buildings were
40	40	transferred to Brownwood; a small portion of the original camp is
41	41	still used to train members of the Texas State Guard and other
42	42	Texas military forces each year; and
43	43	WHEREAS, Sponsored by Tarleton State University, Howard Payne
44	44	University, and the Brown County Museum of History, the anniversary
45	45	symposium will feature presentations by academics, military
46	46	scholars, and researchers, as well as the debut of a new exhibit
47	47	that explores the history of the camp, the men who trained there,
48	48	and the region's contributions to the war effort; and
49	49	WHEREAS, During a time of worldwide conflict, Camp Bowie in
50	50	Brownwood became an important training center for thousands of
51	51	American military personnel, playing a vital role in the defense
52	52	of our nation's security and the preservation of freedom; now,
53	53	therefore, be it
54	54	RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 84th
55	55	Legislature, hereby commemorate the 75th anniversary of the
56	56	establishment of Camp Bowie in Brownwood.
57	57	Fraser
58	58	________________________________
59	59	President of the Senate
60	60	I hereby certify that the
61	61	above Resolution was adopted by
62	62	the Senate on May 13, 2015.
63	63	________________________________
64	64	Secretary of the Senate
65	65	________________________________
66	66	Member, Texas Senate