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Week Ending June 18, 2004

House Concurrent Resolution 439 Honoring the members of the Army Motor Transport Service that served during World War II and participated in the trucking operation known as the Red Ball Express for their service and contribution to the Allied advance following the D-Day invasion.

BRIEF

   Congress finds that while celebrating the accomplishments of all who participated in WWII and particularly on or after D-Day it is fitting to note that on August 21, 1944, the Army Transportation Corps created a trucking operation called the Red Ball Express, a massive 82-day convoy effort that supplied the Allied armies moving through Europe after the successful D-Day invasion.

   The convoy system stretched from Normandy to Paris and eventually to the front in the northeastern borderland of France ensuring that United States and other Allied soldiers were properly supplied. Congress finds that the Red Ball Express delivered 500,000 tons of fuel, ammunition, food and other essentials and added greatly to the success of the Allied mission.

   It was not a simple mission and one that required the members of The Express to persevere arduous threats from ground and aerial ambushes, and, Congress finds, performed their duties with precision and efficiency.

   The convoy continued it’s mission through November 1944.

   The Red Ball Express was created at a time when, according to the resolution, “many WWII commanders believed that African-Americans were not suitable for war and relegated them to service and supply outfits” yet it was a majority of African-Americans who drove those supply trucks while enduring the indignity and double standard of the day.

   Congress then honors the members of the Army Motor Transport Service that served during World War II and participated in the trucking operation known as the Red Ball Express for their service and contribution to the Allied advance following the D-Day invasion.

Sponsor: Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

Vote: Passed House by voice vote.

Cost to the taxpayer:   No discernible cost.

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