2013 -- H 5296

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LC00944

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2013

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H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING CAPTAIN EDOUARD J. JACQUES OF COVENTRY, RHODE ISLAND, FOR

HIS HEROIC MILITARY SERVICE TO OUR NATION DURING WORLD WAR II,

EARNING HIM THE RHODE ISLAND STAR

     Introduced By: Representatives Guthrie, Tomasso, Nunes, Serpa, and Chippendale

     Date Introduced: February 06, 2013

     Referred To: House read and passed

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     WHEREAS, Edouard J. Jacques was born on February 6, 1921, in West Warwick, Rhode

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Island, to Leon and Angelina Jacques. A life-long Rhode Islander, he was raised in West

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Warwick and now lives in Coventry with his wife of 69 years, Marie; and

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     WHEREAS, Edouard began his distinguished military career in 1939, when he joined the

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National Guard. He served as a member of a gun battery and attained the rank of Corporal. In

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1941, the National Guard was federalized and Edouard was now a member of the United States

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Army, but he had loftier goals; and

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     WHEREAS, Edouard applied for and was accepted into the United States Army Air

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Force Cadet Program for pilot training. After rigorous and arduous testing, he became not only a

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Cadet, but, because of his prior military experience and superb military record, was chosen to be

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a Cadet Officer; and

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     WHEREAS, Edouard was stationed at various training camps stateside and accrued

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seventy-five hours of flying time. At that time, the United States Army Air Force was in

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desperate need of Bombardiers and Navigators for heavy bombers. Edouard trained for service

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with heavy bombers, and on April 1, 1944, he received his silver wings and became a Second

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Lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force. He also married his sweetheart, Marie, in

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Lincoln, Nebraska, at his military base; and

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     WHEREAS, Edouard was assigned to a B-24 Liberator crew for advanced training in

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Boise, Idaho, and then was shipped out to England to be a member of the Eighth Air Force, 2nd

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Air division, 96th Combat Bomb Wing, 458th Bomb Group, 752nd Squadron, and 755th Squadron.

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Edouard was about to face air combat over Nazi Germany in some of the toughest fighting in

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World War II, facing deadly flak from German anti-aircraft cannon batteries and the ferocious

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fighting ability of the German Messerschmitt fighter planes. Bomber Squadrons had one of the

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lowest survival rates in World War II and to this day admiring citizens are amazed at the

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incredible skill and heroism those young American men faced in their perilous missions over

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enemy territory; and

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     WHEREAS, Edouard flew thirty missions over Europe in World War II, most over Nazi

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Germany, at a time when the average survival rate for a bomber crew was fifteen missions.

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Edouard flew eighteen bomber missions as lead Bombadier, the man upon whose shoulders the

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success or failure of each mission depended. Some of the missions Edouard served on included

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Cologne, Metz, Aachen, Magdeburg, Hannover, and the most dangerous target of all, Berlin, the

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capital of Nazi Germany. Edouard’s last mission was to Bad Reichenhall in Bavaria, Germany, a

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town near Hitler’s Mountain retreat at Berchtesgarden. It was the last mission of World War II

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flown by the United States Army 8th Air Force; and

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     WHEREAS, Because of the skill, teamwork, courage, and luck of Edouard and his crew,

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they never lost a plane or man on any of their perilous missions, a remarkable record given the

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extremely high casualty rates suffered by allied bomber crews in the European Theatre during

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World War II; and

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     WHEREAS, As a testimony to Edouard’s heroic service to our nation during World War

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II, he received a Certificate of Valor, four Oak Leaf Clusters between November 11, 1944, and

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May 2, 1945, and the medal of which he is most proud, the Distinguished Flying Cross, for

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leading his squadron on a frightfully dangerous bombing mission over Leipham, Germany, on

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March 9, 1945, for which his crew received a Lead Crew Commendation from General Walter R.

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Peck, Commander of the 96th Combat Wing of the United States Army; and

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     WHEREAS, After the war, Edouard remained in the United States Army Reserves and

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was promoted to Captain. Citizen Edouard J. Jacques devoted his life to his family, his three sons,

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Richard, Edward, and David, his professional career, and serving his community. After thirty-

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nine years of exemplary service, Edouard retired from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

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as one of its leaders in sales; and

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     WHEREAS, Edouard served the community of Coventry in many capacities. In 1968, he

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ran for Town Council and received the highest plurality of all candidates in the history of

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Coventry elections up to that time. He eventually became Town Council President. Edouard

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continued to represent the needs of the citizens of Coventry by serving on many boards and

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commissions, the latest of which is the Coventry Housing Authority, of which he was Chairman

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for several years; and

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     WHEREAS, On February 6, 2013, which is Edouard J. Jacques 92nd birthday, Edouard

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will be awarded the Rhode Island Star by Adjutant General Kevin McBride at the National Guard

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headquarters in Cranston, for his heroic military service to our nation at a moment of its greatest

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need, during the Second World War; now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

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Providence Plantations hereby congratulates Edouard J. Jacques for receiving the Rhode Island

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Star in recognition of his valorous service to our nation during World War II. We wish him a

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most happy and joyous 92nd birthday, as well; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Edouard J. Jacques.

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