| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, During World War II, U.S. Navy Seaman First Class |
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| 6 | 7 | | Johnnie David Hutchins of Eagle Lake performed an extraordinary act |
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| 7 | 8 | | of heroism that cost him his life and earned him the Medal of Honor; |
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| 8 | 9 | | and |
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| 9 | 10 | | WHEREAS, Born in Weimar on August 4, 1922, to Johnnie Marion |
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| 10 | 11 | | and Callie Drue Hutchins, Johnnie David Hutchins worked with his |
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| 11 | 12 | | family as a sharecropper in the fields near Lissie while growing up; |
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| 12 | 13 | | he played on the Eagle Lake High School football team, and after |
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| 13 | 14 | | graduation, he found employment at the Parker Brothers shipyard in |
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| 14 | 15 | | Houston; and |
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| 15 | 16 | | WHEREAS, Answering his nation's call to duty, Mr. Hutchins |
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| 16 | 17 | | enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve in November 1942, and the |
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| 17 | 18 | | following year he became the helmsman of the USS LST-473, a landing |
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| 18 | 19 | | craft that was part of an amphibious force under the command of |
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| 19 | 20 | | General Douglas MacArthur off the coast of New Guinea; and |
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| 20 | 21 | | WHEREAS, On September 4, 1943, the LST-473 was one of six |
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| 21 | 22 | | landing craft approaching a Japanese-occupied beach under heavy |
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| 22 | 23 | | fire when Seaman Hutchins, at the helm, saw a Japanese torpedo |
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| 23 | 24 | | bearing down on his ship; before he could steer away from this |
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| 24 | 25 | | threat, two shells struck the landing craft, knocking him away from |
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| 25 | 26 | | the wheel and setting the pilot house on fire; and |
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| 26 | 27 | | WHEREAS, Already mortally wounded, Seaman Hutchins returned |
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| 27 | 28 | | to his post and steered his landing craft safely out of the path of |
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| 28 | 29 | | the torpedo; he died still clinging to the wheel, having devoted the |
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| 29 | 30 | | last moments of his life to saving the other men aboard the vessel; |
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| 30 | 31 | | he was exactly a month past his 21st birthday; and |
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| 31 | 32 | | WHEREAS, A year later, Seaman Hutchins was posthumously |
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| 32 | 33 | | awarded the nation's highest military award, the Medal of Honor, |
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| 33 | 34 | | and his family attended the christening of a ship named in his |
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| 34 | 35 | | honor, the USS Johnnie Hutchins; after the war, his body was |
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| 35 | 36 | | returned to Texas and buried in Eagle Lake, and on the 57th |
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| 36 | 37 | | anniversary of his death in 2000, a crowd of 300 people, including |
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| 37 | 38 | | former crew members of LST-473, gathered at his graveside for a |
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| 38 | 39 | | solemn ceremony; and |
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| 39 | 40 | | WHEREAS, Johnnie Hutchins demonstrated conspicuous bravery |
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| 40 | 41 | | above and beyond the call of duty, making the ultimate sacrifice to |
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| 41 | 42 | | save the lives of his comrades, and for this heroic act, Americans |
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| 42 | 43 | | owe him a debt of remembrance that the passage of time can never |
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| 43 | 44 | | diminish; now, therefore, be it |
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| 44 | 45 | | RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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| 45 | 46 | | hereby pay tribute to U.S. Navy Seaman Johnnie David Hutchins and |
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| 46 | 47 | | honor his family for keeping alive the memory of this courageous |
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| 47 | 48 | | service member; and, be it further |
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| 48 | 49 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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| 49 | 50 | | prepared for his family as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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| 50 | 51 | | House of Representatives and Senate. |
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