Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Veterans Memorials topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Oregon House honors civilians who served on Wake Island in World War II; adopts HCR 23
Summary
The Oregon House on the floor adopted House Concurrent Resolution 23 recognizing 134 Oregonians who served as civilian contractors on Wake Island during World War II and read the names of the 31 who died.
The Oregon House on the floor adopted House Concurrent Resolution 23 on an unrecorded final tally, recognizing 134 Oregonians who served as civilian contractors on Wake Island during World War II and reading the names of the 31 who perished.
Representative Lewis, who introduced the resolution, summarized the events of December 1941 and the 16‑day siege on Wake Island: "Colleagues, I wanna take you back a few decades to 12/07/1941. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt designated that day as a day which will live in infamy. ... What people don't know is what happened on that same day about 5 hours later, 2,000 miles away on the island of Wake in the Pacific." He told members the resolution documents civilian contractors who took up arms to aid Marines, the capture of surviving Americans and later prisoner‑of‑war conditions.
Nut graf: The resolution asks the Legislative Assembly to recognize Oregon civilians who served on Wake Island, describes losses and POW treatment, and thanks researchers and family members who documented the history. Supporters said the resolution seeks to acknowledge civilians whose service and deaths have not been included on the State's World War II memorial.
Supporters detailed the scope and human toll the resolution records. The text cited 1,100 Morrison Knudson company contractors working on the base, 134 with Oregon connections, and described that more than a thousand civilian and military prisoners were transported to camps in Japan and China. Representative Lewis read the resolution's findings that 11 Oregonians were among 98 civilian contractor POWs executed on Wake Island on Oct. 7, 1943, and that 18 Oregon civilian contractors died as POWs in camps in Japan and China.
Family members and researchers were introduced on the floor. Representative Lewis recognized Bonita (Bonnie) Gilbert, author of Building for War, and family members whose relatives served and were taken prisoner. Representative Smith spoke about his family's experience and said, "That civilian was my great uncle, Thomas Gillan," describing the postwar difficulties veterans faced receiving benefits because they were civilians rather than enlisted service members.
The resolution also references House Bill 2344, a separate bill before the legislature concerning names on the World War II Memorial, and notes that by that bill's definition the Wake Island civilians would not currently qualify for inclusion. Representative Lewis said passage of HCR 23 is intended to ensure the Legislature formally recognizes their service and to support efforts to place a monument to the 31 on the Capitol grounds.
The clerk announced HCR 23 "having received the required majority is declared adopted." The resolution was read in full, and two representatives read aloud the list of 31 names of Oregonians who died as recorded in the resolution text.
Ending: The House returned to other business after adoption; members who spoke urged future steps to create a permanent memorial and to consider the legislative bill referenced in the resolution for related recognition.
