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2006 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 475
Celebrating the life of Staff Sergeant Kenneth B. Gentry on the 15th anniversary of his death.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 9, 2006
Agreed to by the Senate, March 10, 2006

 

WHEREAS, fifteen years ago on January 17, 1991, Operation Desert Storm began with a massive air assault at 3 a.m., and ground forces moved in to attack and defeat Iraqi soldiers a month later; and

WHEREAS, three days after the allied ground attack commenced on February 24, 1991, President George H. W. Bush announced a cessation of hostilities effective at midnight on February 28, 1991, and the cease-fire terms were negotiated in Safwan, Iraq, on March 1, 1991; and

WHEREAS, Kenneth Gentry's parents were watching President Bush's speech announcing the cease-fire on television that evening unaware that their son would not be coming home; his wife was informed of her husband's death on March 1, 1991, while she was awaiting his return to a military base in Germany; and

WHEREAS, what has come to be known as the "100 Hours War", although brief,  took the life  of a Virginia native son, United States Army Staff Sergeant Kenneth B. Gentry of Ringgold, who was killed in the line of duty on February 26, 1991, when his Bradley tank was struck by an enemy tank round in southern Iraq; and

WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Gentry was the first casualty from the Danville area in Operation Desert Storm; and

WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Gentry's brother performs an annual ritual, lowering the American flag at midnight on February 26, the day his brother died, and raising it again at noon on March 9, the day his brother was buried in Danville; the flag remains at half-mast during the year on a flag pole installed for that purpose next to the family home; and

WHEREAS, a dedicated father, husband, son, and soldier, Staff Sergeant Gentry was 32 years old at the time of his death and is survived by his beloved wife, Annette Compton Gentry, their wonderful children Ian and Lauren, and other loving family members and friends; and

WHEREAS, the 15th anniversary of Staff Sergeant Gentry's death is a reminder of the perils faced daily by the thousands of young Americans who serve in our armed forces overseas and whose devotion to duty places them in harm's way; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of a courageous and patriotic Virginian, Staff Sergeant Kenneth B. Gentry; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Staff Sergeant Kenneth B. Gentry as an expression of the high regard in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly, the citizens of Pittsylvania County, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the nation.