Senate Resolution 22 - Introduced

PAG LIN





  1  1                SENATE RESOLUTION NO.    
  1  2      BY  LARSON, WARNSTADT, IVERSON, and GRONSTAL
  1  3 A Resolution to recognize the life and accomplishments
  1  4    of Colonel Virgil D. Olson.
  1  5    WHEREAS, Colonel Virgil D. Olson, a man of humble
  1  6 background, worked throughout his life serving freedom
  1  7 and advancing the public good, having served the
  1  8 United States Navy as a naval aviator and as the first
  1  9 helicopter pilot assigned to the President of the
  1 10 United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower; and
  1 11    WHEREAS, Colonel Virgil D. Olson began his life in
  1 12 Charter Oak, Iowa, graduating from Charter Oak High
  1 13 School in 1936, after which he enrolled in Willamette
  1 14 University and subsequently enlisted in the U.S. Navy
  1 15 at Salem, Oregon, on April 7, 1941, being commissioned
  1 16 as a Second Lieutenant after flight school; and
  1 17    WHEREAS, Colonel Virgil D. Olson flew torpedo
  1 18 bombers until May 1944, when he returned to the United
  1 19 States to marry his college sweetheart, returning
  1 20 again to the Pacific theater of World War II in May
  1 21 1945 to fly combat missions in the Palau Islands, the
  1 22 Philippines, and Okinawa, and over Tsingtao, China;
  1 23 and
  1 24    WHEREAS, Colonel Virgil D. Olson, serving a tour on
  1 25 Guam after World War II, attended amphibious warfare
  1 26 school and later was ordered to helicopter training
  1 27 and served a tour in Korea followed by an assignment
  1 28 to Naval Air Training Command in Pensacola, Florida;
  1 29 and
  1 30    WHEREAS, in 1955, Colonel Virgil D. Olson became
  2  1 the eighth Commanding Officer of HMX=1, the official
  2  2 helicopter squadron for the President of the United
  2  3 States of America, and was the sole individual
  2  4 designated as a helicopter pilot for the President of
  2  5 the United States; and
  2  6    WHEREAS, in 1959, Colonel Virgil D. Olson completed
  2  7 the Senior Officers' Course at the Marine Corps School
  2  8 at Quantico, and was named Air Boss and Commanding
  2  9 Officer of the Marine detachment aboard the carrier
  2 10 USS 1 Boxer; and
  2 11    WHEREAS, Colonel Virgil D. Olson served at the
  2 12 Pentagon in the Office of the Chief of Naval
  2 13 Operations, became the Commanding Officer of NHTG=30,
  2 14 served as Chief of Staff 3rd MAW in Da Nang, Vietnam,
  2 15 and returned to Quantico as Chief of Staff, Marine
  2 16 Corps Education and Development Command, before
  2 17 retiring in July 1973; and
  2 18    WHEREAS, Colonel Virgil D. Olson's decorations
  2 19 include two Distinguished Flying Crosses, seven Air
  2 20 Medals, the Legion of Merit with Combat V, and the
  2 21 Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with palm; and
  2 22    WHEREAS, Colonel Virgil D. Olson worked from 1956=
  2 23 1959 to establish Marine One, the Presidential Marine
  2 24 Helicopter Squadron and Program, flying Sikorsky
  2 25 helicopters; and
  2 26    WHEREAS, on February 26, 2005, Colonel Virgil D.
  2 27 Olson attained the age of 86 years; NOW THEREFORE,
  2 28    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That the Senate
  2 29 congratulates retired Colonel Virgil D. Olson for his
  2 30 lifetime of achievements and honors him for his many
  3  1 decades of service to the United States of America.
  3  2 LSB 3449SS 81
  3  3 jr:rj/pj/5