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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION |
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| INTRODUCED BY CREIGHTON AND CAUSER, OCTOBER 12, 2011 |
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| INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, OCTOBER 12, 2011 |
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| A RESOLUTION |
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1 | Honoring the life of United States Air Force Major Thomas Edward |
2 | Clark, who was killed in action on February 8, 1969, during a |
3 | Vietnam combat mission over Laos. |
4 | WHEREAS, Thomas Edward Clark was born on April 15, 1939, in |
5 | Emporium, to Josephine and Otto Clark and graduated from the |
6 | United States Air Force Academy in 1963; and |
7 | WHEREAS, On February 8, 1969, as a captain in the United |
8 | States Air Force, Thomas Clark was flying an F-100D aircraft of |
9 | the 416th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 37th Tactical Fight Wing, |
10 | out of Phu Cat Air Base, Vietnam, along with three other |
11 | aircraft on a combat mission over Laos; and |
12 | WHEREAS, The flight, controlled by an F-4 Forward Air |
13 | Controller, engaged a 23 millimeter anti-aircraft artillery |
14 | (AAA) battery in the vicinity of grid coordinates 48Q XD 177 |
15 | 598; and |
16 | WHEREAS, Captain Clark's aircraft was hit by rounds from the |
17 | AAA battery, burst into flames and crashed; and |
18 | WHEREAS, No parachute was observed and aircraft in the area |
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1 | conducted visual and electronic searches with negative results; |
2 | and |
3 | WHEREAS, Approximately one hour after the crash, a voice |
4 | transmission, reportedly Asian, was received on an emergency |
5 | frequency but no evidence suggested that this transmission was |
6 | related to Captain Clark's loss nor was the location of the |
7 | transmission's origin discernible; and |
8 | WHEREAS, Subsequently, the United States Air Force determined |
9 | that Captain Clark was killed in action (KIA), unrecovered (BNR) |
10 | and posthumously promoted him to the rank of major; and |
11 | WHEREAS, On February 12, 1991, a joint United States and Lao |
12 | People's Democratic Republic team investigated the crash of |
13 | Major Clark's F-100D; and |
14 | WHEREAS, In late 1991, a Thai citizen turned over human |
15 | remains and a military identification tag bearing Captain |
16 | Clark's name to United States officials in Thailand, but the |
17 | human remains were determined to not be those of Major Clark; |
18 | and |
19 | WHEREAS, Excavations of the crash site in 1992 and 2005 were |
20 | unsuccessful in recovering Major Clark's remains; and |
21 | WHEREAS, From October 14 to 20, 2009, another joint team |
22 | excavation recovered a human tooth which, after extensive |
23 | examination, was identified as belonging to Major Clark; and |
24 | WHEREAS, The Clark family was notified in June 2011 that the |
25 | remains of Major Clark would be returned to his family, and |
26 | arrangements have been made to bury the remains in Emporium on |
27 | October 22, 2011, in the family plot with his father and mother; |
28 | and |
29 | WHEREAS, The investigative efforts of the joint excavation |
30 | teams testify poignantly to the heroic service given to this |
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1 | nation by this courageous flyer during the Vietnam Conflict and |
2 | to this Commonwealth's duty to honor his life in death; |
3 | therefore be it |
4 | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life of |
5 | United States Air Force Major Thomas Edward Clark, who was |
6 | killed in action on February 8, 1969, during a Vietnam combat |
7 | mission over Laos. |
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