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2015 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 733
Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 6, 2015
Agreed to by the Senate, February 19, 2015

 

WHEREAS, World War II was the largest and most violent armed conflict in the history of mankind, with fatality estimates ranging between 22,000,000 and 70,000,000 military and civilian deaths; and

WHEREAS, America’s finest men and women risked life and limb to protect the American way of life and to halt foreign tyranny and aggression; and

WHEREAS, more than 16,000,000 Americans served in uniform and 405,000 members of the United States Armed Forces paid the ultimate sacrifice for the protection of the American people and for the formation of a more stable world; and

WHEREAS, World War II demonstrated how the American people unite in times of great peril; and

WHEREAS, the united efforts of Americans from all walks of life made the American homefront the Arsenal of Democracy for the worldwide triumph of the Allied powers; and

WHEREAS, Allied forces faced vicious combat, exhibited unmatched bravery, and suffered untold tragedy in Southeast Asia, the Philippines, the islands of the Southwest and Central Pacific, the deserts of North Africa, across great stretches of the Atlantic Ocean, and from the beaches of Western and Southern Europe to the icy Russian tundra; and

WHEREAS, on June 6, 1944, Allied forces launched the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, the most extensive airborne and seaborne assault ever planned; the operation was a critical turning point in the war and a defining moment of the 20th century; and

WHEREAS, hostilities in the European theater of World War II ceased in May of 1945, and the war officially ended with the surrender of the Japanese upon the deck of the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945; and

WHEREAS, the trauma and the exultant triumph of the events of World War II still reside in the collective American psyche through contemporary tales in novels, cinema, and oral history, with the men and women who served during the war still referred to as the Greatest Generation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation as an expression of the General Assembly’s appreciation and respect for the service and sacrifices of all World War II veterans.