House Concurrent Resolution 117

PAG LIN

  1  1           HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. ___
  1  2                       BY  HORBACH
  1  3 A Concurrent Resolution to honor the Meskwaki tribe
  1  4    members who served as Code Talkers in North Africa
  1  5    during World War II and to request that Congress and
  1  6    the President of the United States honor all Code
  1  7    Talkers who served in the United States armed forces.
  1  8    WHEREAS, the languages of several Native American
  1  9 tribes were developed for use as code during both
  1 10 World War I and World War II and members of at least
  1 11 18 tribes participated in the transmission of vital
  1 12 information regarding the location of enemy troops and
  1 13 numbers of enemy guns; and
  1 14    WHEREAS, this code was never broken and the Native
  1 15 American Code Talkers who transmitted the messages are
  1 16 credited with saving the lives of countless numbers of
  1 17 American soldiers; and
  1 18    WHEREAS, these Code Talkers worked under terrible
  1 19 conditions, taking extreme risks to provide the
  1 20 necessary military information for our military forces
  1 21 and sworn to secrecy in the event they were captured;
  1 22 and
  1 23    WHEREAS, eight members of the Meskwaki tribe from
  1 24 Tama County, including Frank Sanache, his brother
  1 25 Willard Sanache, Dewey Youngbear, Edward Benson, Judy
  1 26 Wayne Wabaunasee, Mike Wayne Wabaunasee, Dewey
  1 27 Roberts, and Melvin Twin, served as scouts and Code
  1 28 Talkers for eight companies of their division in North
  1 29 Africa during World War II; and
  1 30    WHEREAS, the only surviving member of those eight
  2  1 Meskwaki soldiers, Frank Sanache, endured terrible
  2  2 hardships both while stationed in North Africa and
  2  3 after being captured by the Germans and held prisoner
  2  4 in a Polish internment camp; and
  2  5    WHEREAS, Congress passed legislation in 2000
  2  6 authorizing the issuance of Congressional Medals of
  2  7 Honor to recognize the service of the Navajo Code
  2  8 Talkers, which were presented by the President of the
  2  9 United States in July of 2001, but members of other
  2 10 tribes, such as Frank Sanache and the other Meskwaki
  2 11 Code Talkers, did not receive the same recognition;
  2 12 and
  2 13    WHEREAS, it is fitting and proper that the valiant
  2 14 efforts of all Native American Code Talkers be
  2 15 recognized and honored; NOW THEREFORE,
  2 16    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE
  2 17 SENATE CONCURRING, That the Iowa General Assembly
  2 18 recognizes the bravery and dedicated service of the
  2 19 Meskwaki Code Talkers and expresses gratitude for the
  2 20 contribution these soldiers made to saving many
  2 21 American lives; and
  2 22    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Iowa General
  2 23 Assembly requests and encourages Congress and the
  2 24 President of the United States to recognize the
  2 25 contributions, bravery, and dedicated service of all
  2 26 Code Talkers, including the eight soldiers from the
  2 27 Meskwaki tribe, in the same manner as the Navajo Code
  2 28 Talkers by awarding them the appropriate medals of
  2 29 honor; and
  2 30    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That, upon adoption, copies
  3  1 of this Resolution be sent to the Majority and
  3  2 Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the
  3  3 Speaker, Majority Leader, and Minority Leader of the
  3  4 United States House of Representatives, to the members
  3  5 of the Iowa congressional delegation, and to the
  3  6 President of the United States; and
  3  7    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That, upon adoption, copies
  3  8 of this Resolution be sent to Frank Sanache and to the
  3  9 families of the other Meskwaki tribe members who
  3 10 served as Code Talkers in World War II.
  3 11 LSB 6654HH 80
  3 12 lh/gg/14