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2023 SESSION

23102536D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 564
Offered January 19, 2023
Commending Thomas Trant.
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Patrons-- Durant, Orrock and Scott, P.A.
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WHEREAS, Thomas Trant, an honorable veteran of World War II and a beloved member of the Fredericksburg community, celebrated his 100th birthday on November 19, 2022; and

WHEREAS, growing up during the Great Depression in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, Thomas “Tom” Trant passed his days playing baseball with friends at a local park and swimming at a nearby dam; and

WHEREAS, on May 15, 1944, at the age of 21, Tom Trant entered the United States Navy and became one of four motor machinist’s mates aboard the motor patrol torpedo boat USS PT-186, where he was responsible for maintaining the boat’s engines and manning a .50-caliber machine gun during patrols; and

WHEREAS, Tom Trant served on a naval base known as “Soemoe Soemoe,” located approximately 800 miles north of Australia and near the coast of Morotai Island, which is today part of Indonesia, where an estimated 40,000 Imperial Japanese Marines were stationed at the time; and

WHEREAS, under the cover of darkness, Tom Trant and his crewmates regularly patrolled the strait between the Morotai and Halmahera islands to monitor the enemy’s movements and activities; and

WHEREAS, during one patrol, Tom Trant was hit by a piece of shrapnel from enemy fire, though he did not realize it until six years later, when a visit to a doctor revealed the fragment lodged in his chest; and

WHEREAS, in recognition of his meritorious service as a motor machinist’s mate 3rd class petty officer, Tom Trant was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon by the United States Navy; and

WHEREAS, following two years and two months of active duty, Tom Trant returned to the United States and was ultimately discharged on May 16, 1946, in Bainbridge, Maryland; and

WHEREAS, Tom Trant married Jean Fallecker shortly after completing his service and ultimately settled in Fredericksburg to work at what is now the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, where he retired in 1978; and

WHEREAS, Tom Trant recently celebrated his 100th birthday at the Paradise Diner in southern Stafford with his five sons and their families, a joyous event befitting a man who has greatly served both the Commonwealth and the nation; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Thomas Trant, a distinguished veteran of World War II and a member of America’s Greatest Generation, on the occasion of his centennial birthday; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Thomas Trant as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for his life and his contributions to the Commonwealth.