109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 191
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas on December 7, 1941, a date which will live in in-
famy, the United States was suddenly and deliberately 
attacked at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, resulting in the 
loss of over 2,400 American lives, the greatest such loss 
of life in a single attack before September 11, 2001; 
Whereas the United States joined with allies from 32 coun-
tries to fight the common foe of fascist militarism in a
•HCON 191 EH 
war in which over 16,000,000 Americans served in the 
military; 
Whereas the United States suffered over 670,000 casualties, 
with more than 400,000 deaths, while over 105,000 
Americans were held as prisoners of war, many of whom 
were forced to participate in the infamous Bataan Death 
March or were forced to work on the construction of the 
Siam-Burma Railway; 
Whereas two former Presidents, John F. Kennedy and 
George H. W. Bush, served with particular distinction 
and valor in the Pacific theater during the Second World 
War; 
Whereas the sea battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, Leyte 
Gulf—the greatest naval battle in history—and Lingayen 
Gulf turned the tide of the war in the Pacific and led to 
ultimate victory; 
Whereas the Sullivan family of Waterloo, Iowa, who lost five 
sons in a single morning when the USS Juneau was sunk 
in the Battle of Guadacanal, came to symbolize for the 
United States the grief felt by American families over the 
loss of loved ones during the Second World War; 
Whereas on May 14, 1943, the Australian hospital ship Cen-
taur, in transit to New Guinea to pick up the wounded, 
was sunk fifty miles East-Northeast of Brisbane, Aus-
tralia, resulting in 268 dead, representing the highest 
number of casualties of any merchant vessel sunk by a 
submarine in the Pacific theater; 
Whereas General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his promise of 
‘‘I shall return’’ to the Philippine people by leading the 
successful campaign for the liberation of the Philippines,
•HCON 191 EH 
part of a wider campaign which freed much of Asia from 
militarist occupation; 
Whereas more than 20,000 Japanese and 7,000 Americans 
died in the battle of Iwo Jima, which raged on the small 
island of Iwo Jima for over one month between February 
and March 1945, the fierceness of which was captured in 
the historic photo of five Marines and one Navy corps-
man raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi; 
Whereas the Battle of Okinawa, waged between April and 
June 1945, was the largest sea-land-air battle in history, 
with more than 38,000 Americans wounded and 12,000 
killed or missing, more than 107,000 Japanese and Oki-
nawan conscripts killed, and perhaps 100,000 Okinawan 
civilians who perished in the Battle; 
Whereas millions of people died in Hawaii, Guam, the Coral 
Sea, Midway, the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, 
Wake Island, Guadacanal, Nanjing, Harbin, Beijing, 
Shanghai, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, 
Indonesia, Burma, Bataan, Corregidor, Manila, Luzon, 
Leyte Gulf, Lingayen Gulf, New Guinea, Korea, Saipan, 
Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki; 
Whereas the Second World War led to dramatic social 
changes in the United States as more than 19,500,000 
women joined the American workforce at defense plants 
and 350,000 women joined the Armed Forces; 
Whereas the roles of minorities in both the Armed Forces 
and industry were changed forever as greater opportuni-
ties for employment and service in the defense of the 
United States presented themselves; 
Whereas Japanese-Americans, including Senator Daniel 
Inouye, served with courage and valor in the 442nd Regi-
•HCON 191 EH 
mental Combat Team, the most decorated regiment in 
United States military history; 
Whereas the people of the United States and Japan worked 
together after the Second World War to reconstruct 
Japan and to ensure the post-War emergence of Japan 
as a beacon of democracy and economic liberalization in 
the Asia-Pacific region, and the United States and Japan 
further solidified the post-War security relationship by 
signing the Security Treaty of 1951 and the Treaty of 
Mutual Cooperation and Security in 1960; 
Whereas the sacrifices in the Pacific of United States vet-
erans and veterans of United States allies during the 
Second World War led to the emergence of an Asian re-
gion where democratic institutions and free market 
economies have taken hold, contributing greatly to the 
peace and prosperity of the region; and 
Whereas on May 29, 2004, the United States gratefully dedi-
cated the World War II Memorial, honoring both the Pa-
cific and Atlantic theaters, on the National Mall in Wash-
ington, D.C., with decorated World War II hero Senator 
Robert Dole giving the dedication speech: Now, therefore, 
be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress—
(1) honors all veterans, living and deceased, of 
the Second World War in both the Pacific and At-
lantic theaters on the 60th anniversary year of the 
War’s conclusion and expresses the deep apprecia-
tion and gratitude of the United States for their 
valor and selfless service to their country;
•HCON 191 EH 
(2) calls upon the people of the United States 
to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the final 
surrender of the Second World War aboard the USS 
Missouri as a day of remembrance and appreciation 
for the members of the greatest generation who, 
through their sacrifices both in the Armed Forces 
and on the homefront, preserved liberty for future 
generations and rescued the world from the scourge 
of fascist militarism; 
(3) reaffirms the judgment in Tokyo rendered 
by the International Military Tribunal for the Far 
East of 1946–1948 and the conviction of certain in-
dividuals as war criminals for their crimes against 
humanity; and 
(4) recognizes that the alliances formed in the 
Asia-Pacific region following the Second World War, 
including those with Australia, Japan, the Phil-
ippines, the Republic of Korea, and Thailand, have 
contributed immeasurably to the continued peace 
and prosperity enjoyed throughout the region.
Passed the House of Representatives July 14, 2005. 
Attest:
Clerk.
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 191
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the con-
clusion of the War in the Pacific and honoring 
veterans of both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters 
of the Second World War.