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2018 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 67
Commemorating the life and legacy of Sergeant Clinton Greaves, USA, Ret.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 12, 2018
Agreed to by the Senate, March 5, 2018

 

WHEREAS, Sergeant Clinton Greaves, USA, Ret., a native of Madison County who died in 1906, was honored with a historical marker in 2017 for his distinguished military service to the United States; and

WHEREAS, Clinton Graves was born a slave 10 years before the end of the Civil War; in 1872, as a freedman, he enlisted in the United States Army, where due to a clerical error that went uncorrected up to the time of his death, his name was changed to Clinton Greaves; and

WHEREAS, Clinton Greaves was assigned to the 9th Cavalry Regiment, the fabled Buffalo Soldiers, and deployed to Fort Bayard in what is now New Mexico, where he was tasked with tracking missions during the Apache Wars; and

WHEREAS, on one such mission to recover runaways from a reservation, Clinton Greaves, then a corporal, was ambushed and surrounded by 40 to 50 Apaches; he single-handedly fought off the attackers, giving the other members of his unit time to escape, and ultimately completed his mission; and

WHEREAS, for his courageous and selfless actions, President Rutherford B. Hayes bestowed upon Clinton Greaves the Army Medal of Honor; Clinton Greaves later retired as a sergeant and died in Columbus, Ohio, in 1906; and

WHEREAS, Clinton Greaves’ meritorious service had been lost to history until a member of Madison American Legion Post 157 discovered the local connection and worked with local chapters of the NAACP and the Virginia Department of Historical Resources to learn more; and

WHEREAS, with 21 members of the Luray chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club in attendance, Madison American Legion Post 157 dedicated a historical marker honoring Clinton Greaves at the Madison County Courthouse; and

WHEREAS, the historical marker for Clinton Greaves serves as a reminder of the service and sacrifices of all American men and women in uniform throughout the world; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commemorate the life and legacy of Sergeant Clinton Greaves, USA, Ret., on the dedication of a historical marker in his honor in 2017; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Madison American Legion Post 157 as an expression of the General Assembly’s appreciation for the honorable military service of Sergeant Clinton Greaves, USA, Ret.