Rep. Stahl offered the following resolution:

House Resolution No. 157.

A resolution commemorating August 4, 2007, as Michigan Airborne Day.

Whereas, The 82nd Infantry Division was formed August 25, 1917, in Camp Gordon, Georgia with members from 48 states. They were nicknamed “All-Americans.” The "All-Americans" fought three major campaigns during World War I and helped to break the fighting spirit of the German Imperial Army; and

            Whereas, On August 16, 1940, the U.S. Army's Parachute Test Platoon executed the first parachute jump from an aircraft while in flight. This then grew into the U.S. Army's 82nd, 101st, 11th, 13th, and 17th Airborne Divisions, Glider Troops, and a Battalion of Marines of WW2, and followed by Airborne Army Rangers, Army Special Forces, Marine Force Recon, Navy Seals, Air Force Special Ops, and Coast Guard Para Rescue Units; and

            Whereas, On August 15, 1942, The 82nd Infantry Division became the 82nd Airborne Division, the first airborne division in the U.S. Army. Today, no other military unit can respond more rapidly and effectively to conflict anywhere in the world than the 82nd. Known as "America's Guard of Honor," the 82nd is widely recognized as one of the most powerful forces in America's military arsenal; and

            Whereas, The 82nd Airborne Division commenced the largest airborne assault in history on June 5, 1944, among the first soldiers to fight in Normandy, France.  The 82nd Airborne Division saw 33 days of action without relief or replacements and accomplished every assigned mission without relinquishment of any ground taken; and

            Whereas, In 1965, The 82nd Airborne Division was deployed in Operation Power Pack in response to the civil war raging in the Dominican Republic to restore peace and stability. They served 22 months on the battlefield in Vietnam in the beginning of January 1968 with deployments throughout the 1970s in Korea, Turkey and Greece, and in 1983, were deployed for Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada; and

            Whereas, In 1988, The 82nd Airborne Division conducted an air-land operation into Honduras as part of Operation Golden Pheasant, the deployment of armed and willing paratroopers to the Honduran countryside caused the Sandinistas to withdraw back to Nicaragua and in December 1989 seized the Torrijos International Airport in Panama as part of Operation Just Cause; and

            Whereas, Six days after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, the 82nd Airborne Division became the vanguard of the largest deployment of American troops since Vietnam in Operation Desert Shield and subsequently led in Operation Desert Storm; and

            Whereas, The 82nd Airborne Division’s paratroopers were among the first ground troops sent into the war-torn Kosovo region of the Balkans in the summer of  1999; and

            Whereas, The 82nd Airborne Division is currently deployed in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as being deployed in times of need to hurricane-ravaged areas, proving both its ability to deploy on short notice for military action as well as conduct humanitarian missions; and

            Whereas, It is only fitting and proper to honor the bravery and valor of American paratroopers in each branch of the United States Armed Services, including approximately 500 members of the 82nd Airborne Division Association currently living in Michigan. We give public honor and gratitude toward veteran and current members of the Armed Forces who have always been ready and willing to drive on until the mission was accomplished; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Representatives, That the members of this legislative body commemorate August 4, 2007, as Michigan Airborne Day.