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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The year 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the end |
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of a decades-long conflict in Vietnam, during which American |
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service personnel fought alongside South Vietnamese troops to |
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defend the cause of freedom; and |
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WHEREAS, Concerned about the threat of a Communist takeover |
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in Vietnam, the United States began sending material support to the |
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French forces in that country in 1950, and the flow of military aid |
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and advisors continued after the French withdrew and Vietnam was |
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divided in 1954; the number of advisors climbed significantly in |
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the early 1960s, and in 1962, American helicopter units began to |
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transport South Vietnamese soldiers in military operations; three |
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years later, the first American combat troops landed on South |
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Vietnamese soil; ultimately, more than 2.5 million Americans served |
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in South Vietnam, with 500,000 seeing actual fighting, and over 3.4 |
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million served in Southeast Asia; and |
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WHEREAS, During the course of the conflict, more than 58,000 |
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American service members lost their lives and over 150,000 were |
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seriously wounded; some 2,500 were listed as missing in action, |
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many of whom remain unaccounted for; losses among South Vietnamese |
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forces are estimated at a quarter of a million killed and perhaps as |
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many badly injured, and countless civilians perished; and |
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WHEREAS, American military involvement in the war ended with |
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the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in January 1973; a few U.S. |
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troops remained in South Vietnam to guard the American Embassy in |
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Saigon, but the last of those were withdrawn on April 30, 1975, |
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hours before the North Vietnamese Army captured the city; in the |
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days before Saigon fell, approximately 135,000 Vietnamese were |
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evacuated stateside, most of them military personnel and urban, |
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educated professionals whose previous associations made them |
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targets of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese; and |
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WHEREAS, Over the ensuing decade, the Communists tightened |
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their grip on the country and 840,000 more people fled, according to |
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the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; some crossed |
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Cambodia and Laos to reach Thailand, while hundreds of thousands |
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risked their lives in small, wooden boats; although a large number |
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reached refugee camps in such places as Thailand, Malaysia, |
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Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, over 250,000 died at sea |
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as a result of storms, illness, starvation, or capture by pirates; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, The United States has continued to welcome |
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immigrants from Vietnam; by 2012, this population had reached |
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almost 1.3 million and constituted the sixth-largest foreign-born |
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group in the nation; Texas is now home to well over 200,000 |
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Vietnamese Americans, who have made substantial contributions to |
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the economy, education, public service, science, medicine, the |
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arts, and many other aspects of society; and |
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WHEREAS, The observance of this anniversary reminds us of the |
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magnitude of the sacrifices made and hardships endured in the quest |
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for freedom, and we pay tribute to those whose lives were lost and |
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recognize the courage and determination of the Vietnamese people |
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who came to these shores in search of a better life; now, therefore, |
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be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
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Legislature hereby commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of |
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the war in Vietnam. |