THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY TALLMAN, PASHINSKI AND HELM, JUNE 8, 2011

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, JUNE 8, 2011  

A RESOLUTION

Honoring the life of outstanding Pennsylvanian United States

Army Major General Gerald T. Sajer and extending condolences

to his family.

WHEREAS, United States Army Major General Gerald T. Sajer

died on May 14, 2011; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer was the Adjutant General of the

Pennsylvania National Guard from January 1987 through April

1995, and as Adjutant General, he was responsible for command,

control and supervision of 24,000 soldiers and airmen of the

Army and Air National Guard in units of this Commonwealth and

for providing trained and equipped units capable of performing

their war-time missions and for providing military support to

civil authorities in responding to man-made and natural

disasters; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer was born in Milton on April 12, 1928,

and received his secondary education and graduated from Girard

College, a school for orphan boys, in Philadelphia in 1946; and

WHEREAS, He received his bachelor's degree, summa cum laude,

from Tufts University in 1956 where he was selected for

membership in Phi Beta Kappa based on high academic standing and

received his law degree from Harvard University in 1959 and a

master's degree in public administration from Shippensburg

University in 1984; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer began his military career when he

enlisted in the Army as a rifleman in 1946, and, after basic

training, he was selected for the Officer Candidate School at

Fort Benning, Georgia, received his commission as a second

lieutenant in 1947 and attended the Engineer School at Fort

Belvoir, Virginia, where he completed the Engineer Associate

Officer Course in 1947; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer was assigned as a company officer in

engineer units in Korea and Japan from 1947 to 1950; and

WHEREAS, Following the outbreak of hostilities in Korea,

General Sajer attended Airborne School and Ranger Training at

Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1951 and served in Korea in 1952

through 1953 as a Ranger Captain in intelligence collection

activities in support of the Eighth United States Army; and

WHEREAS, After his service in Korea, General Sajer left

active duty to attend college and law school and transitioned

into the United States Army Reserve; and

WHEREAS, He subsequently joined the Army National Guard in

1959 as a captain in the 28th Infantry Division where he served

as the Assistant G3 Plans and Operations, division G3,

responsible for operational planning and execution and as Chief

of Staff, and in 1976, he was promoted to Brigadier General and

appointed as Assistant Division Commander (Maneuver) for the

28th Infantry Division; and

WHEREAS, He was appointed as Adjutant General of the

Commonwealth on January 20, 1987, by Governor Robert P. Casey

and promoted to Major General; and

WHEREAS, After Persian Gulf I, when Active, Guard and Reserve

units were being downsized, the Army proposed to cut the 15,000-

man 28th Infantry Division to a 3,500-man cadre, which General

Sajer vigorously opposed, successfully; and

WHEREAS, He then converted the 28th Infantry Division from a

light infantry to a modern heavy mechanized division,

accomplishing that transition within three years, and under

General Sajer's leadership, the Pennsylvania National Guard grew

to the greatest strength ever, 24,000, and was widely regarded

as the best Guard in the country; and

WHEREAS, While Adjutant General, General Sajer conceived and

constructed the first modern training buildings for the training

of officers and noncommissioned officers at Fort Indiantown Gap,

a $30 million project, and during his tenure, the Pennsylvania

National Guard was allotted three-quarters of all of the

National Guard's construction money and actively constructed

armories, veterans' homes and other facilities throughout this

Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer was responsible for the enactment of

landmark legislation, including the Education Assistance

Program, which gave Guardsmen tuition moneys for enlisting, and,

with the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War, legislation to

modernize the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act to better protect

Guardsmen; and

WHEREAS, He created the legislation to construct the memorial

and amphitheater at the National Veterans Cemetery at Fort

Indiantown Gap and served as the Chairman of the Commissioning

Committee for the U.S.S. Pennsylvania, a Trident submarine; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer was active with the military abroad,

forming a training partnership with the First Panzer Division of

the German Army and assisting in the development of the

Lithuanian military forces; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer spearheaded a major environmental

cleanup initiative at Cressona, Schuylkill County, to eliminate

the issues caused by tens of thousands of burning tires, for

which he was honored at the White House by President George H.W.

Bush for community excellence service; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer initiated a modern family support

program for the Pennsylvania National Guard soldiers and their

families, including a day-care center, a summer camp, a day camp

and an emergency relief program; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer's awards and decorations include the

Distinguished Service Medal, Soldier's Medal, Legion of Merit,

Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, American

Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, National Defense

Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, Army Forces Reserve Medal,

Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, United Nations

Service Medal, Pennsylvania Distinguished Service Medal - Second

Award, General Thomas J. Stewart Medal, Pennsylvania Service

Ribbon and Parachute and Ranger Tabs; and

WHEREAS, Prior to assuming his position as Adjutant General,

General Sajer was an attorney in private practice with Stone &

Sajer in New Cumberland, focusing on civil litigation; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer was a member of the Pennsylvania Bar

Association, Cumberland County Bar, Phi Beta Kappa (Tufts

Chapter), National Guard Association of the United States and

Pennsylvania, Association of the United States Army, 28th

Infantry Division Heritage Association and Veterans of Foreign

Wars, was a trustee of the Army War College Foundation and was a

member of the Boards of the First Regiment of Infantry

Association, of the Minuteman Institute of National Defense

Studies and Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church,

Abbottstown; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer retired from military service in March

1996; and

WHEREAS, After his retirement, General Sajer resumed the

practice of law and remained active in military affairs, he

wrote several award-winning articles on the National Guard of

the United States and was regarded as an expert in the planning

and response to catastrophic events and homeland security; and

WHEREAS, General Sajer is survived by his wife, the former

Helen Leskanich, his children Marsha, Mark, Susan, Scott, Frank

and Peter, and 15 grandchildren; and

WHEREAS, In final tribute to General Sajer, Admiral Joe

Sestak, a former Congressman and 2010 Candidate for the United

States Senate from Pennsylvania, said, "I have rarely met as

principled a person in my political life as he was"; therefore

be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life of

outstanding Pennsylvanian, United States Army Major General

Gerald T. Sajer; and be it further

RESOLVED, That condolences be extended to his family; and be

it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to Mrs.

Gerald T. Sajer, Hidden Horse Farm, 2665 Lake Meade Road, East

Berlin, PA 17316.