Whereas the Second Oregon Volunteer Infantry was called
into service April 25, 1898, at the request of President William McKinley to
provide a regiment of volunteer troops from the state of Oregon to serve in the
Spanish American War and Philippine Insurrection; and
Whereas the members of the infantry were the first troops
to enter Guam, the first to land in the Philippines and the first to enter the
walled city of Manila to raise the American flag; and
Whereas these brave young Oregonians fought in 42 battles,
engagements and skirmishes, marched 500 miles in three months and were one of
three regiments who honorably performed the trying duty of provost guard in
Manila; and
Whereas 13 Oregonians gave their lives in battle, three
died of wounds, three were captured and killed, 43 died of disease, one died of
an accident and one drowned; and
Whereas several members of the infantry were honored by
their country with the Congressional Medal of Honor, including Marcus Robertson
of Hood River, who received the medal for valor in a battle near San Isidro as
a scout assigned to an elite reconnaissance unit; and
Whereas the infantry replaced the Spanish flag flying over
the walled city of Manila with the American flag, and the replaced Spanish flag
is now kept in honor by the Oregon Historical Society; and
Whereas President Theodore Roosevelt declared of the men of
the infantry on his visit to Portland on May 21, 1903, “It was a pleasure to me
today to have as part of my escort the men of the Second Oregon, who carried on
the expansion of our people beyond the Pacific as your fathers had carried it
on to the Pacific”; and
Whereas President Theodore Roosevelt, who was recently
posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for leading the Rough
Riders in the Battle of San Juan Hill, brings to mind the sacrifice of the
young Oregonians who answered the call to duty as volunteers in 1898, and
distinguished themselves on the battlefield; and
Whereas the spirit of selfless dedication to duty, country,
preparedness and the tireless defense of freedom are as current to our freedom
and well-being now as they were in 1898; and
Whereas all of the 1,296 enlisted men and 56 officers have
now passed on; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon:
That we, the members of the Seventy-first Legislative
Assembly, honor the members of the Second Oregon Volunteer Infantry; and be it
further
Resolved, That each year, August 13, the anniversary of the
1898 capture of Manila by the Second Oregon Volunteer Infantry, shall be
celebrated as Preparedness Day to remind Oregonians of the sacrifice and spirit
of the Second Oregon Volunteer Infantry.
Filed in the office of
Secretary of State May 17, 2001
__________