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,

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

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