PRINTER'S NO. 777
No. 111 Session of 2005
INTRODUCED BY RAFFERTY, D. WHITE, PICCOLA, ROBBINS, RHOADES,
BRIGHTBILL, MELLOW, M. WHITE, STOUT, PILEGGI, PUNT,
JUBELIRER, PIPPY, KASUNIC, LOGAN, THOMPSON, MUSTO, KITCHEN,
EARLL, TARTAGLIONE, WENGER, BOSCOLA, WOZNIAK, FERLO, LAVALLE,
O'PAKE, COSTA, GORDNER, ARMSTRONG, ERICKSON, WONDERLING,
GREENLEAF, C. WILLIAMS, CONTI, LEMMOND AND STACK, MAY 4, 2005
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, MAY 4, 2005
A RESOLUTION
1 Recognizing May 8, 2005, as the 60th anniversary of "Victory in
2 Europe Day" or "V-E Day."
3 WHEREAS, By April 1945 the German Army was shattered; and
4 WHEREAS, On April 25, 1945, American and Soviet forces met at
5 the Elbe River, and five days later Adolf Hitler committed
6 suicide in his Berlin bunker; and
7 WHEREAS, Hitler's successor, Admiral Karl Doenitz, sent
8 General Alfred Jodl to the Supreme Headquarters Allied
9 Expeditionary Forces detachment in Rheims to seek terms for an
10 end to the war; and
11 WHEREAS, At 2:41 a.m. on May 7, 1945, General Jodl signed for
12 the unconditional surrender of German forces on all fronts,
13 effective the next day at 11:01 p.m.; and
14 WHEREAS, After six years and millions of lives lost, the Nazi
15 scourge was crushed, war in Europe was finally over, and war-
16 weary soldiers and civilians could join in giving thanks; and
1 WHEREAS, On May 8, 1945, "Victory in Europe Day" was
2 proclaimed and observed in Western Europe and Great Britain,
3 where more than 1 million people gathered in London with the
4 British Royal Family and Prime Minister Winston Churchill; and
5 WHEREAS, "Victory in Europe Day" observances were also held
6 in Canada and the United States, where President Harry Truman
7 celebrated his 61st birthday and dedicated the Allied victory to
8 the memory of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died on
9 April 12; and
10 WHEREAS, On May 9, 1945, the Soviet Union marked the end of
11 war, known there as the Great Patriotic War; therefore be it
12 RESOLVED, That the Senate recognize May 8, 2005, as the 60th
13 anniversary of "Victory in Europe Day" or "V-E Day."
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