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| 3 | 4 | | |
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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, In an extraordinary display of bravery, former |
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| 6 | 7 | | U.S. Special Forces operative and aid worker David Eubank |
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| 7 | 8 | | confronted extreme danger in saving the life of a young girl in the |
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| 8 | 9 | | besieged Iraqi city of Mosul; and |
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| 9 | 10 | | WHEREAS, David Eubank is the founding director of the Free |
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| 10 | 11 | | Burma Rangers, a humanitarian organization that provides support to |
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| 11 | 12 | | oppressed ethnic minority groups; for the past two years, his team |
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| 12 | 13 | | has focused on mounting relief operations for civilians in Iraq and |
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| 13 | 14 | | Syria whose lives have been devastated by the Islamic State's |
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| 14 | 15 | | campaign of terror; and |
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| 15 | 16 | | WHEREAS, One evening in early June 2017, Mr. Eubank and his |
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| 16 | 17 | | volunteers were traveling alongside a brigade of Iraqi troops into |
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| 17 | 18 | | Mosul, which had become a battlefield during the Iraqi and |
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| 18 | 19 | | coalition-led effort to retake the city from the Islamic State; the |
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| 19 | 20 | | liberators found streets lined with the remains of those who had |
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| 20 | 21 | | attempted to flee and were shot by snipers; and |
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| 21 | 22 | | WHEREAS, While surveying this horrendous scene, Mr. Eubank |
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| 22 | 23 | | noticed that a young girl, approximately age five, was still alive; |
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| 23 | 24 | | as his American and Iraqi comrades threw smoke canisters and |
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| 24 | 25 | | provided covering fire, he braved the storm of sniper bullets |
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| 25 | 26 | | flying all around him and was able to reach the girl and carry her to |
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| 26 | 27 | | safety in the span of 12 harrowing seconds; and |
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| 27 | 28 | | WHEREAS, The exceptional fortitude that Mr. Eubank |
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| 28 | 29 | | demonstrated on that day comes as little surprise to those who know |
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| 29 | 30 | | this esteemed former soldier; the son of Christian missionaries and |
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| 30 | 31 | | an alumnus of Texas A&M University, he enlisted in the U.S. Army at |
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| 31 | 32 | | age 18 and advanced through the ranks to lead a military free fall |
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| 32 | 33 | | team with the 1st Special Forces Group; he went on to found the Free |
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| 33 | 34 | | Burma Rangers alongside his wife, Karen, in 1997; and |
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| 34 | 35 | | WHEREAS, By acting without hesitation to save the life of a |
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| 35 | 36 | | child in need, David Eubank exemplified the capacity of the human |
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| 36 | 37 | | spirit to transcend the most dire of circumstances, and the people |
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| 37 | 38 | | of the Lone Star State are proud to call this courageous and |
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| 38 | 39 | | selfless individual one of our own; now, 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, 1st Called Session, hereby honor David Eubank for his |
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| 41 | 42 | | valiant rescue of a young girl in Iraq and extend to him sincere |
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| 42 | 43 | | gratitude for his remarkable act of heroism; 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. Eubank as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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| 45 | 46 | | House of Representatives. |
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