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ENGROSSED
SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 8001
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Passed
Legislature - 1997 Regular Session
State of Washington 55th
Legislature 1997 Regular Session
By
Read first time 01/16/97.
Referred to Committee on Government Operations.
Petitioning for
a plaque honoring veterans dying from war-related injuries received in the
southeast Asia theater of operations.
TO
THE HONORABLE GARY LOCKE, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, AND TO THE
DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, AND TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL ADMINISTRATION, AND TO THE STATE=S VIETNAM VETERANS ORGANIZATIONS:
We,
your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of
Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and
petition as follows:
WHEREAS,
In 1984, legislation was enacted authorizing the design and placement of a
memorial on the Capitol campus honoring Washington state residents who died or
are Amissing-in-action@ in the southeast Asia theater of operations; and
WHEREAS,
This memorial, commonly known as the Vietnam memorial, was dedicated in May
1987, and was almost totally paid for from many private contributions; and
WHEREAS,
There are over eleven hundred names engraved on the memorial representing those
who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country; and
WHEREAS,
Joel Dean Smith, deceased spouse of Boneita Smith, who sustained massive
war-related injuries that resulted in the amputation of both legs at the hip
and who suffered physically and emotionally for over twenty years is
representative of many thousands of Washington state residents who have died
and will die from war-related injuries received in the southeast Asia theater
of operations; and
WHEREAS,
The pain, suffering, and above all courage of these Washington state residents
should be recognized and honored;
NOW,
THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the Governor of the State
of Washington, in consultation with the Director of the Department of Veterans
Affairs, the Director of the Department of General Administration, and the
state=s Vietnam veterans
organizations, have placed upon the southeast Asia memorial a plaque honoring
those veterans who died from war-related injuries received in the southeast
Asia theater of operations.
BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this memorial be immediately
transmitted to the honorable Gary Locke, Governor of the State of Washington,
the Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Director of the
Department of General Administration, and the state=s Vietnam veterans organizations.
