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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, Felix Longoria Jr. is celebrating his 96th birthday |
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| 6 | 7 | | on May 24, 2017, to the delight of his family and friends; and |
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| 7 | 8 | | WHEREAS, Born in Skidmore in 1921, Felix Longoria is a |
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| 8 | 9 | | descendant of Juan Miguel Longoria Jr., a mid-19th-century resident |
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| 9 | 10 | | of Blue Town who became the first in the Rio Grande Valley to set up |
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| 10 | 11 | | a system to irrigate his land with river water; he enlisted in the |
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| 11 | 12 | | United States Army in 1939, and after completing basic training at |
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| 12 | 13 | | Fort Sam Houston, he received ski combat training in Wisconsin; |
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| 13 | 14 | | deployed to England as a 23-year-old sergeant, he led a platoon in |
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| 14 | 15 | | the Invasion of Normandy on D-day and fought on Omaha Beach; and |
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| 15 | 16 | | WHEREAS, Mr. Longoria was struck by machine gun fire in |
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| 16 | 17 | | Brest, France, and was confined to an English hospital for six |
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| 17 | 18 | | weeks; after being awarded the Purple Heart, he learned that his |
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| 18 | 19 | | mother had fainted at the news; he returned to the front and |
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| 19 | 20 | | received several shrapnel wounds during the Battle of the Bulge, |
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| 20 | 21 | | but he told the medics not to fill out any Purple Heart paperwork |
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| 21 | 22 | | for fear his mother would be further distressed; later, he was |
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| 22 | 23 | | injured in hand-to-hand combat during the liberation of a |
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| 23 | 24 | | concentration camp, and although he again averted a Purple Heart, |
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| 24 | 25 | | he earned a Bronze Star for shooting a German soldier in order to |
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| 25 | 26 | | protect his men; he attained the rank of first sergeant before his |
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| 26 | 27 | | honorable discharge in 1948; and |
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| 27 | 28 | | WHEREAS, Mr. Longoria settled in Corpus Christi after the war |
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| 28 | 29 | | and worked as a civilian aviation metalsmith at the Naval Air |
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| 29 | 30 | | Station until his retirement; devoted to his family, he is the proud |
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| 30 | 31 | | father of two children, and he shared a fulfilling relationship of |
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| 31 | 32 | | 59 years with his wife, Theodosa Longoria, before her passing in |
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| 32 | 33 | | 2004; he lives independently and enjoys meeting friends weekly at |
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| 33 | 34 | | Lindale Community Center and playing dominoes nearly every Friday |
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| 34 | 35 | | night; and |
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| 35 | 36 | | WHEREAS, An admired member of the Greatest Generation, |
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| 36 | 37 | | Mr. Longoria is an inspiration to many, and he continues to enrich |
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| 37 | 38 | | the lives of all who are fortunate enough to know him; now, |
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| 38 | 39 | | therefore, be it |
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| 39 | 40 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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| 40 | 41 | | Legislature hereby congratulate Felix Longoria Jr. on the occasion |
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| 41 | 42 | | of his 96th birthday and extend to him sincere best wishes for |
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| 42 | 43 | | continued happiness; and, be it further |
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| 43 | 44 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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| 44 | 45 | | prepared for Mr. Longoria as an expression of high regard by the |
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| 45 | 46 | | Texas House of Representatives. |
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