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2008 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 288
Celebrating the life of Private First Class Thomas Randolph Wilson.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 1, 2008
Agreed to by the Senate, February 7, 2008

 

WHEREAS, United States Army Private First Class Thomas Randolph Wilson, age 21, of Maurertown, was killed in the line of duty on August 27, 2007, while valiantly serving his country in Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, Thomas Wilson graduated from Central High School in Woodstock, where he was an honor student, played basketball, and ran hurdles for the track team; he studied wildlife and fishery management at West Virginia University and enlisted in the United States Army in 2006 out of a sense of duty and patriotism; and

WHEREAS, after completing training as a paratrooper, Private First Class Wilson deployed to Orgun, Afghanistan, as a member of the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, based at Camp Ederly in Vicenza, Italy; and

WHEREAS, when insurgents attacked his unit during combat operations in Paktika, Afghanistan, Private First Class Wilson was firing a 50-caliber machine gun, bravely protecting his fellow soldiers, when he was hit and tragically killed by a sniper's bullet; and

WHEREAS, Private First Class Wilson had served in the military for over one year and was scheduled to return home to the United States on furlough in less than a month; and

WHEREAS, Private First Class Wilson loved life on the family farm, was active in the Future Farmers of America and 4-H, and believed in preserving the environment and the natural beauty of the wetlands near his family home in Shenandoah County; and

WHEREAS, a faithful member of the Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Private First Class Wilson helped organize the annual gathering of church young people from across the state; and

WHEREAS, Private First Class Wilson's hobbies included drawing and photography, and he enjoyed being in the outdoors, hiking, fishing, and camping; and

WHEREAS, Private First Class Wilson will be fondly remembered for his passion as a soldier and his love of the outdoors and will be greatly missed by his devoted parents and grandparents, his sisters and brother, and countless other relatives and friends; and

WHEREAS, Private First Class Wilson's death is a reminder of the perils faced daily by the thousands of 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, Private First Class Thomas Randolph Wilson; 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 Private First Class Thomas Randolph Wilson as an expression of the high regard in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly and the citizens of Virginia.