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(4) recognizes that the alliances formed in the Asia-Pacific region following the Second World War,

including those with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand, have contributed immeasurably to the continued peace and prosperity enjoyed throughout the region.

Amend the title so as to read: “Concurrent resolution commemorating the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the war in the Pacific and honoring veterans of both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters of the Second World War.".

IV

109TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION

H. CON. RES. 191

Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the war in the Pacific and honoring veterans of both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters of the Second World War.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 24, 2005

Mr. HYDE (for himself and Mr. LANTOS) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the war in the Pacific and honoring veterans of both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters of the Second World War.

Whereas on December 7, 1941, a date which will live in in

famy, the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, resulting in the loss of over 2,400 American lives, the greatest such loss of life in a single attack before September 11, 2001;

Whereas the United States joined with allies from 32 countries to fight the common foe of fascist militarism in a war in which over 16,000,000 Americans served in the military;

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Whereas the United States suffered over 670,000 casualties,

with more than 400,000 deaths, while over 105,000 Americans were held as prisoners of war, many of whom were forced to participate in the infamous Bataan Death March or were forced to work on the construction of the Siam-Burma Railway;

Whereas two former Presidents, John F. Kennedy and George H. W. Bush, served with particular distinction and valor in the Pacific theater during the Second World War:

Whereas the sea battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, Leyte Gulf the greatest naval battle in history-and Lingayen Gulf turned the tide of the war in the Pacific and led to ultimate victory;

Whereas the Sullivan family of Waterloo, Iowa, who lost five sons in a single morning when the USS Juneau was sunk in the Battle of Guadacanal, came to symbolize for the United States the grief felt by American families over the loss of loved ones during the Second World War;

Whereas on May 14, 1943, the Australian hospital ship Centaur, in transit to New Guinea to pick up the wounded, was sunk fifty miles East-Northeast of Brisbane, Australia, resulting in 268 dead, representing the highest number of casualties of any merchant vessel sunk by a submarine in the Pacific theater;

Whereas General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his promise of "I shall return" to the Philippine people by leading the successful campaign for the liberation of the Philippines, part of a wider campaign which freed much of Asia from militarist occupation;

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Whereas more than 20,000 Japanese and 7,000 Americans died in the battle of Iwo Jima, which raged on the small island of Iwo Jima for over one month between February and March 1945, the fierceness of which was captured in the historic photo of five Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi;

Whereas the Battle of Okinawa, waged between April and June 1945, was the largest sea-land-air battle in history, with more than 38,000 Americans wounded and 12,000 killed or missing, more than 107,000 Japanese and Okinawan conscripts killed, and perhaps 100,000 Okinawan civilians who perished in the battle;

Whereas millions of people died in Hawaii, Guam, the Coral Sea, Midway, the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, Wake Island, Guadacanal, Nanjing, Harbin, Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, Indonesia, Burma, Bataan, Corregidor, Manila, Luzon, Leyte Gulf, Lingayen Gulf, New Guinea, Korea, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki;

Whereas the Second World War led to dramatic social changes in the United States as more than 19,500,000 women joined the American workforce at defense plants and 350,000 women joined the Armed Forces;

Whereas the roles of minorities in both the Armed Forces and industry were changed forever as greater opportunities for employment and service in the defense of the United States presented themselves;

Whereas Japanese-Americans, including Senator Daniel Inouye, served with courage and valor in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated regiment in United States military history;

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Whereas the people of the United States and Japan worked together after the Second World War to reconstruct Japan and to ensure the post war emergence of Japan as a beacon of democracy and economic liberalization in the Asia-Pacific region, and the United States and Japan further solidified the post war security relationship by signing the Security Treaty of 1951 and the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security in 1960;

Whereas the sacrifices in the Pacific of United States veterans and veterans of United States allies during the Second World War led to the emergence of an Asian region where democratic institutions and free market economies have taken hold, contributing greatly to the peace and prosperity of the region; and

Whereas, on May 29, 2004, the United States gratefully dedicated the World War II Memorial, honoring both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., with decorated World War II hero Senator Robert Dole giving the dedication speech: Now, therefore, be it

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Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That Congress

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(1) honors all veterans, living and deceased, of the Second World War in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters on the 60th anniversary year of the

war's conclusion and expresses the deep appreciation

and gratitude of the United States for their valor

and selfless service to their country;