PRINTER'S NO. 1595
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
317
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY REGAN, ARNOLD, AUMENT, BAKER, BARTOLOTTA, BLAKE,
BREWSTER, BROWNE, COSTA, DINNIMAN, HUGHES, HUTCHINSON,
IOVINO, KILLION, LEACH, MARTIN, MASTRIANO, MENSCH, PHILLIPS-
HILL, PITTMAN, SANTARSIERO, TARTAGLIONE AND J. WARD,
MARCH 13, 2020
REFERRED TO VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS,
MARCH 13, 2020
A RESOLUTION
Designating March 24, 2020, as "17th Airborne Division Day" in
Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, Formed and trained during wartime, the 17th Airborne
Division of the First Allied Airborne Army entered combat
December 25, 1944, at Ardennes, Belgium; and
WHEREAS, The division engaged in the Rhineland, Ardennes-
Alsace and Central Europe campaigns of World War II, having
command posts in England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and
Germany; and
WHEREAS, Major General William M. Miley led the division from
its activation in April 1943 through its inactivation in
September 1945; and
WHEREAS, More members of this specialized volunteer unit came
from Pennsylvania than from any other state; and
WHEREAS, The division received many Presidential Unit
Citations; and
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
WHEREAS, Individual paratroopers received the Distinguished
Service Cross, Legion of Merit, Silver Star, Bronze Star,
Soldier's Medal and Air Medal; and
WHEREAS, Four paratroopers earned the Medal of Honor, our
nation's highest military decoration, for actions during the
Battle of the Bulge and Operation Varsity; and
WHEREAS, General George Patton observed that paratroopers
"ran right into the flank of the German attack" at a Battle of
the Bulge site near Bastogne, Belgium; and
WHEREAS, The division suffered heavy losses against a larger
enemy force in the weeks-long Battle of the Bulge; and
WHEREAS, In Operation Varsity, tens of thousands of American
and British glidermen and paratroopers departing bases in France
landed close to Allied troops on the ground in Westphalia,
Germany; and
WHEREAS, It was the first airborne invasion over the Rhine
into Germany, the first Rhine crossing by an invading army since
1805, and the largest single-lift airborne assault in history;
and
WHEREAS, General Miley, who is remembered as "a pioneering
commander of a unit of pioneers," was the first man out of the
first plane that day, March 24, 1945; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate designate March 24, 2020, as "17th
Airborne Division Day" in Pennsylvania.
20200SR0317PN1595 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24