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1996 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 342
On the death of Major General Marvin Theron Ball, Jr.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, March 1, 1996
Agreed to by the Senate, March 7, 1996

WHEREAS, Major General Marvin Theron Ball, Jr., retired assistant adjutant general for operations and training of the Virginia Army National Guard and a native of Gloucester County, died on October 29, 1995; and

WHEREAS, because Marvin T. Ball was too young to take up his commission upon graduation from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1939, he spent two years as a teacher at Washington-Lee High School in Montross, Virginia, and was subsequently commissioned a second lieutenant in January 1941; and

WHEREAS, during World War II, Lieutenant Ball served his country as an Intelligence Officer of the 234th Anti-Aircraft Battalion in the China-India-Burma Theater and the Marianas; and

WHEREAS, a member of the Virginia National Guard since November 1949, General Ball participated in the organization of the 107th Artillery Brigade of the Virginia Army National Guard (Air Defense), becoming its commander on February 1, 1962; and

WHEREAS, on March 8, 1962, at the age of 42, General Ball was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General with the approval of the United States Senate and is believed to be the youngest Brigadier General so confirmed; and

WHEREAS, General Ball was awarded the Legion of Merit twice, once for exceptional service while commanding the 107th Artillery Brigade of the Virginia Army National Guard, and again when he retired on February 10, 1971, with the rank of Major General; and

WHEREAS, General Ball served as a member of the Governor's Military Staff under Governors Mills E. Godwin, A. Linwood Holton, John N. Dalton, Charles S. Robb and Gerald L. Baliles; and

WHEREAS, in addition to his 30 years of military service, General Ball was chief of procurement and contract services for the U.S. Small Business Administration's regional office in Richmond, from which he retired in 1970; and

WHEREAS, General Ball was a member of the National Guard Association of the United States, the American Legion, the Varina Lions Club, and was a former vestryman of Varina Episcopal Church; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the passing of an exceptional military leader and citizen of the Commonwealth, Major General Marvin Theron Ball, Jr.; 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 Major General Marvin Theron Ball, Jr., as an expression of the General Assembly's great respect for his memory.