85R10604 JGH-D
By: Stephenson H.C.R. No. 74
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, During World War II, U.S. Navy Seaman First Class
Johnnie David Hutchins of Eagle Lake performed an extraordinary act
of heroism that cost him his life and earned him the Medal of Honor;
and
WHEREAS, Born in Weimar on August 4, 1922, to Johnnie Marion
and Callie Drue Hutchins, Johnnie David Hutchins worked with his
family as a sharecropper in the fields near Lissie while growing up;
he played on the Eagle Lake High School football team, and after
graduation, he found employment at the Parker Brothers shipyard in
Houston; and
WHEREAS, Answering his nation's call to duty, Mr. Hutchins
enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve in November 1942, and the
following year he became the helmsman of the USS LST-473, a landing
craft that was part of an amphibious force under the command of
General Douglas MacArthur off the coast of New Guinea; and
WHEREAS, On September 4, 1943, the LST-473 was one of six
landing craft approaching a Japanese-occupied beach under heavy
fire when Seaman Hutchins, at the helm, saw a Japanese torpedo
bearing down on his ship; before he could steer away from this
threat, two shells struck the landing craft, knocking him away from
the wheel and setting the pilot house on fire; and
WHEREAS, Already mortally wounded, Seaman Hutchins returned
to his post and steered his landing craft safely out of the path of
the torpedo; he died still clinging to the wheel, having devoted the
last moments of his life to saving the other men aboard the vessel;
he was exactly a month past his 21st birthday; and
WHEREAS, A year later, Seaman Hutchins was posthumously
awarded the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor,
and his family attended the christening of a ship named in his
honor, the USS Johnnie Hutchins; after the war, his body was
returned to Texas and buried in Eagle Lake, and on the 57th
anniversary of his death in 2000, a crowd of 300 people, including
former crew members of LST-473, gathered at his graveside for a
solemn ceremony; and
WHEREAS, Johnnie Hutchins demonstrated conspicuous bravery
above and beyond the call of duty, making the ultimate sacrifice to
save the lives of his comrades, and for this heroic act, Americans
owe him a debt of remembrance that the passage of time can never
diminish; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby pay tribute to U.S. Navy Seaman Johnnie David Hutchins and
honor his family for keeping alive the memory of this courageous
service member; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for his family as an expression of high regard by the Texas
House of Representatives and Senate.