PRINTER'S NO. 1298
No. 89 Session of 1985
INTRODUCED BY DeWEESE, CIVERA, DAWIDA, STEWART, BELARDI, POTT,
HASAY, COHEN, LEVDANSKY, MANMILLER, PICCOLA, D. R. WRIGHT,
BOOK, SCHULER, RYBAK, BELFANTI, COLE, SAURMAN, MORRIS,
PISTELLA, MICHLOVIC, CLYMER AND TIGUE, APRIL 30, 1985
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, MAY 1, 1985
A RESOLUTION
1 Designating May 8 as "General Matthew B. Ridgway Day."
2 WHEREAS, May 8 commemorates the victorious conclusion of the
3 Second World War in Europe; and
4 WHEREAS, General Matthew B. Ridgway, graduate of the United
5 States Military Academy at West Point (Class of 1917), is the
6 possessor of one of the most distinguished records in the annals
7 of American military history, to wit: Commander of the 82nd
8 Airborne troops who dropped into Normandy in the earliest hours
9 of D-Day, 1944; valiant warrior for the cause of freedom in
10 Europe, helping mightily to liberate that continent from the
11 deleterious monstrosity of Nazism; doughty stemmer of the
12 Communist tide in Korea (Land of the Morning Calm) during the
13 brutal belligerency styled the Korean War (1950-1953); rebuilder
14 of the military power and morale of the United Nations forces
15 nearly shattered and undone by the Red onslaught of the winter
16 of 1950-1951; Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty
1 Organization, following his hard-won successes on Asian
2 battlefields; and steady inspirer of many young men and women in
3 our Nation, particularly those in this Commonwealth--the General
4 having resided in Fox Chapel, Pittsburgh, for the three decades
5 following his formal retirement from active duty in 1955; and
6 WHEREAS, He has continued, over the immense span of nine
7 decades--years that encompassed the total transformation of the
8 American military landscape from the long-vanished days of the
9 Indian Wars, to the dawn of American power on the world stage at
10 the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, ranging ever onwards
11 in time through the sanguinary struggles of two global conflicts
12 and the bitter aftermath of yet another in Asia at the mid-
13 century--to have amply fulfilled the lofty idealism incarnate in
14 West Point's motto, "Duty, Honor, Country"; therefore be it
15 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
16 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania extend its heartiest
17 congratulations and most auspicious felicitations to General
18 Matthew B. Ridgway, during this year of grace 1985, a year which
19 happily concelebrates both the ninetieth birthday of the General
20 and the fortieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War;
21 and be it further
22 RESOLVED, That this day, May 8, 1985, be known throughout the
23 length and breadth of this Commonwealth as "General Matthew B.
24 Ridgway Day," so that the recollection of his many deeds of duty
25 and valor will always be with us, and this recognition be
26 coupled with the honor that ought to be paid to the veterans of
27 all of our nation's wars in solemn commemoration of the nobility
28 of their sacrifices; and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to
30 General Matthew B. Ridgway, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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