HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

25

TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

COMMENDING THE 27TH INFANTRY REGIMENT WOLFHOUNDS FOR ITS PEACE BRIDGE WITH JAPAN.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, World War II devastated Japan.  Children who had no parents or family to take care of them were vulnerable and dependent on the mercy of others.  The Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul opened the Holy Family Home in Osaka, Japan, to show kindness to these orphans and provide them with a home that all children should have.  Severe lack of funds, however, meant that they lived in poor conditions; and

 

     WHEREAS, fate intervened on Christmas Day in 1949.  A Red Cross field representative brought several soldiers from the 27th Infantry Regiment, known as the Wolfhounds, to a holiday party at the Holy Family Home.  The bad shape of the orphanage melted the men’s hearts.  On their next payday, they took up a collection, raising $143.00, which they donated to the home on New Year’s morning.  By their next payday, all the soldiers in the Regiment knew of the plight of the orphans. As time passed, they adopted the orphanage. For the next half-year, Master Sergeant Hugh O’Reilly led the soldiers to help repair the facility.  Soldiers and children came to know each other well. Soon the Wolfhounds began regularly collecting for the Holy Family Home; and

 

     WHEREAS, when the order came for the 27th Infantry Regiment to deploy to Korea, the soldiers feared that the orphanage was in peril. To the surprise of the Sisters, the soldiers continued collecting from their paychecks to provide for the children. The funds they raised during the Korean War occupation helped to build a complex that greatly improved the lives of the children. June 1951 was the last payday for the Wolfhounds. Showing true greatness of heart, the Regiment raised an astonishing and record-breaking sum of $10,400 for the Holy Family Home.  The Sisters sent a letter of deep, heartfelt gratitude for their kindness and generosity; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 1957, the Wolfhounds began a tradition, inviting two children from the Holy Family Home to visit the soldiers and their families stationed in Hawaii.  In 1958, the Regiment began sending two soldiers to the Holy Family Home during Christmas to act as “Father Christmas”, bearing gifts and offering companionship to bring joy and happiness to the orphans.  These traditions and special relationship continue to the present day; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, that it commends and expresses its admiration and appreciation to the family of Master Sergeant Hugh O’Reilly and the soldiers of the 27th Infantry Regiment for their generosity and kindness toward the orphans of the Holy Family Home, and to the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul for their care of these children, and expresses its best wishes for their success in their future endeavors.

 

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

 

_____________________________

Report Title: 

COMMENDING THE 27TH INFANTRY REGIMENT WOLFHOUNDS.