2005 SESSION

INTRODUCED REPRINT

058386404 INTRODUCED 1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 878 2 Offered February 2, 2005 3 Commending Mary Sigillo Barraco. 4 ±±±±±±±±±± Patrons±±McDonnell, Suit, Purkey, Tata, Wardrup and Welch 5 ±±±±±±±±±± 6 WHEREAS, on November 18, 2004, Mary Sigillo Barraco, a resident of Virginia Beach, was named 7 a Knight in the of the Crown by order of His Majesty, King Albert II of Belgium, in recognition 8 of her heroic actions during World War II; and 9 WHEREAS, Mary Barraco, a native of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was raised and educated in her 10 mother©s native country of Belgium and was living there in 1940 when the army of Nazi Germany 11 occupied Belgium; and 12 WHEREAS, while still a teenager, Mary Barraco became a member of the Movement National 13 Belge, the , and later a member of the French Underground and, at the end of the 14 war, was a captain and liaison officer between the Canadian forces and the Belgian Resistance; and 15 WHEREAS, captured by the Nazis in 1943 with her fiance, who was executed for his resistance, 16 Mary Barraco was sentenced to 16 months in prison and was interrogated and tortured in Nazi prisons 17 in and Belgium; and 18 WHEREAS, after the war, Mary Barraco was awarded the Resistance Medal (Belgium) by Prince 19 Charles, the Regent of Belgium; and 20 WHEREAS, after marrying Joseph Barraco in 1949, Mary Barraco moved to Virginia Beach in 1950, 21 where she continues to live; and

22 WHEREAS, Mary Barraco used her wartime experiences as a motivation for her tireless efforts over HJ878 23 five decades to defend freedom and liberty, to promote patriotism, and to support American ideals; and 24 WHEREAS, Mary Barraco organized "United We Stand" in 1967, a national letter-writing campaign 25 in support of the Vietnam War©s MIAs and POWs; and 26 WHEREAS, in the early 1970s, Mary Barraco expanded the United States Savings Bonds program in 27 Virginia Beach Catholic and public schools and assisted in selling more than $500,000 in bonds, earning 28 recognition from the United States Department of the Treasury; and 29 WHEREAS, Mary Barraco has been cited numerous times for her patriotism and community service, 30 earning the George Washington Honor Medal for Patriotic Activities from the Freedom Foundation at 31 Valley Forge, the Bicentennial Hidden Heroine from the Girl Scouts of Tidewater, the Righteous Gentile 32 Award from the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, and Patriotic Citizen of the Year from General 33 MacArthur Memorial Post 392, Veterans of Foreign Wars; and 34 WHEREAS, while imprisoned by the Nazis in World War II, Mary Barraco wrote on the wall of her 35 cell: "It is only after we have lost our freedom we appreciate its value," and she has since dedicated her

20:20 36 life to making certain that Americans always appreciate the value of freedom; now, therefore, be it 37 RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby 38 commend Mary Sigillo Barraco on being named Knight in the Order of the Crown by the King of

3/24/10 39 Belgium; and, be it 40 RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution 41 for presentation to Mary Sigillo Barraco as an expression of the admiration and gratitude of the General 42 Assembly for her lifetime commitment as the "Torchbearer of Freedom."