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2020 SESSION


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 114
Commending James Smith.

 

Agreed to by the Senate, February 20, 2020
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 24, 2020

 

WHEREAS, James Smith, a heroic veteran who served the nation in the United States Marine Corps during World War II and the Central Intelligence Agency for four decades afterwards, will celebrate his 100th birthday in 2020; and

WHEREAS, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, James Smith was inspired to enlist in the United States Marine Corps in 1939 after years training in a Citizens’ Military Training Camp; and

WHEREAS, demonstrating an aptitude for Morse code and radio physics, James Smith was trained as a radio operator, earning the affectionate nicknames of “Horse” and “Horse Collar” from all the times he was required to haul large carts of communications equipment; and

WHEREAS, James Smith volunteered for a newly formed elite unit known as the Mariner Raiders, serving in the 1st Marine Raider Battalion under Colonel Merritt A. Edson; and

WHEREAS, part of the Allied invasion of Guadalcanal, James Smith first saw combat during the Battle of Tulagi, where he saved several Marines’ lives by laying down suppressing fire against a Japanese line, an act of bravery that allowed the men to retreat to safety and earned him the Silver Star Medal; and

WHEREAS, after the Battle of Tulagi, James Smith received another Silver Star Medal for defending Henderson Field during the Battle of Edson’s Ridge, a vicious period of close fighting that was a decisive moment in the Guadalcanal campaign and the Allied efforts in the Pacific Theater of the war; and

WHEREAS, concluding his service with the United States Marine Corps after the war, James Smith joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1952, serving at the headquarters in Washington, D.C., as well as throughout Europe and Asia, in an illustrious career spanning the better part of a half-century; and

WHEREAS, after retiring from the Central Intelligence Agency in the early 1990s, James Smith kept his marksman skills sharp as a competitive skeet shooter, making the Super Veteran First Team at the 2014 World Skeet Championships in San Antonio, Texas; and

WHEREAS, a member of the City of Fairfax community for many years, James Smith is revered as one of the “Old Originals” of the Old Lee Hills neighborhood, where he continues to reside; and

WHEREAS, James Smith’s courage and heroism is an inspiration to future generations of Americans, who enjoy a more free and just world as a result of his tremendous efforts on behalf of the nation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend James Smith, distinguished veteran of World War II, on the occasion of his centennial birthday; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to James Smith as an expression of the General Assembly’s profound admiration and respect for his valorous service.