IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 218
Expressing the sense of the Congress that a commemorative postage stamp 
should be issued honoring Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone, a great 
American hero. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 12, 2003
Mr. PASCRELL
(for himself, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. HOLDEN, Ms. 
DELAURO, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, 
Mr. DOYLE, and Mr. FOSSELLA) submitted the following concurrent reso-
lution; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the Congress that a commemorative 
postage stamp should be issued honoring Gunnery Ser-
geant John Basilone, a great American hero.
Whereas Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone was born in 1916 
in Buffalo, New York, son of Salvatore and Dora 
Basilone, one of 10 children; 
Whereas John Basilone was raised and educated in Raritan, 
New Jersey; 
Whereas, at the age of 18, John Basilone enlisted in the 
United States Army, principally seeing garrison service in 
the Philippines;
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Whereas, after his honorable discharge in 1937, Sergeant 
Basilone, known by his comrades as ‘‘Manila John’’, re-
turned to Raritan; 
Whereas, seeing the storm clouds of war hovering over the 
Nation, and believing that his place was with this coun-
try’s fighting forces, Sergeant Basilone enlisted in the 
United States Marine Corps in July 1940; 
Whereas, on October 24 and 25, 1942, on Guadalcanal, Sol-
omon Islands, Sergeant Basilone was a member of ‘‘C’’ 
Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Divi-
sion, and was in charge of 2 sections of heavy machine 
guns defending a narrow pass that led to Henderson Air-
field; 
Whereas, although Sergeant Basilone and his machine gun-
ners were vastly outnumbered and without available rein-
forcements, Sergeant Basilone and his fellow Marines 
fought valiantly to check the savage and determined as-
sault by the Japanese Imperial Army; 
Whereas, for this action, Sergeant Basilone was awarded the 
Congressional Medal of Honor and sent home a hero; 
Whereas, in December 1944, Sergeant Basilone’s restlessness 
to rejoin his fellow Marines, who were fighting the bloody 
island-to-island battles en route to the Philippines and 
Japan, prompted him to volunteer again for combat; 
Whereas, on Iwo Jima, on February 19, 1945, Sergeant 
Basilone again distinguished himself by single-handedly 
destroying an enemy blockhouse while braving heavy-cal-
iber fire; 
Whereas, minutes later, an artillery shell killed Sergeant 
Basilone and 4 of his platoon members;
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Whereas Sergeant Basilone was posthumously awarded the 
Navy Cross and Purple Heart, and a life-sized bronze 
statue stands in Raritan, New Jersey, where ‘‘Manila 
John’’ is clad in battle dress and cradles a machine gun 
in his arms; 
Whereas, in 1949, the United States Government commis-
sioned a destroyer the U.S.S. Basilone, and in November 
1951, Governor Alfred E. Driscoll posthumously awarded 
Sergeant Basilone the State of New Jersey’s highest 
decoration; 
Whereas, following World War II, Sergeant Basilone’s re-
mains were reinterred in the Arlington National Ceme-
tery; 
Whereas Sergeant Basilone was the first recipient of the Con-
gressional Medal of Honor awarded in World War II; 
Whereas Sergeant Basilone was also awarded the Navy Cross 
and the Purple Heart, giving him the distinction of being 
the only enlisted Marine in World War II to receive all 
3 medals; and 
Whereas commemorative postage stamps have been commis-
sioned to honor other great heroes in American history: 
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—
(1) a commemorative postage stamp should be 
issued by the United States Postal Service honoring 
Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone; and
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(2) the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee 
should recommend to the Postmaster General that 
such a stamp be issued.
Æ