THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE RESOLUTION

INTRODUCED BY FREEMAN, ADOLPH, BAKER, BARRAR, YOUNGBLOOD, BEAR, BELFANTI, BEYER, BISHOP, BRENNAN, BROOKS, BROWN, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, CARROLL, CASORIO, CAUSER, CLYMER, COHEN, CONKLIN, D. COSTA, COX, CREIGHTON, CUTLER, DALEY, DELOZIER, DeLUCA, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, EVERETT, FAIRCHILD, FARRY, FLECK, GABLER, GEIST, GIBBONS, GINGRICH, GODSHALL, GOODMAN, GRELL, GROVE, GRUCELA, HARHART, HELM, HENNESSEY, HESS, HICKERNELL, HOUGHTON, JOSEPHS, KAUFFMAN, M. KELLER, KILLION, KNOWLES, KORTZ, KOTIK, KULA, LENTZ, LONGIETTI, MAHER, MAHONEY, MAJOR, MANN, MARKOSEK, MARSHALL, MARSICO, MATZIE, McCALL, McGEEHAN, METCALFE, MICCARELLI, MICOZZIE, MILLARD, MILLER, MIRABITO, MOUL, MURPHY, MURT, MUSTIO, OBERLANDER, M. O'BRIEN, O'NEILL, PAYNE, PEIFER, PETRI, PHILLIPS, PICKETT, PYLE, QUINN, RAPP, READSHAW, REED, REICHLEY, ROAE, ROEBUCK, ROHRER, ROSS, SAINATO, SANTARSIERO, SANTONI, SAYLOR, SCAVELLO, SIPTROTH, S. H. SMITH, SONNEY, STABACK, STEVENSON, SWANGER, TALLMAN, R. TAYLOR, THOMAS, TRUE, VEREB, WATSON, WHITE AND ROCK, MAY 26, 2010

INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35, MAY 26, 2010  

A RESOLUTION

Honoring the life of United States Army Sergeant Sean Michael

Durkin, 24, who paid the ultimate sacrifice on April 9, 2010,

as the result of injuries he received from an improvised

explosive device on March 27, 2010, in Afghanistan.

WHEREAS, Easton native, United States Army Sergeant Sean

Michael Durkin, died April 9, 2010, from wounds sustained on

March 27, 2010, while serving our nation in Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, Sgt. Durkin was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th

Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, Fort Carson,

Colorado, and had served a tour in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne  

Division before being deployed as an army infantryman to

Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, Sgt. Durkin lost both legs and two fingers when

enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive

device near Forward Operating Base Wilson, an attack that also

wounded two comrades; and

WHEREAS, Prior to being transported to Walter Reed Army

Hospital near Washington, DC, Sgt. Durkin was visited at a

hospital in Kabul and presented with a Purple Heart from

President Barack Obama; and

WHEREAS, Although it first looked as though Sgt. Durkin would

survive his injuries, doctors became worried about his prognosis

when he developed a postsurgical fungal infection, and it was

that infection which took his life on April 9, 2010, with his

mother by his bedside; and

WHEREAS, Sgt. Durkin was 24 years of age at the time of his

death; and

WHEREAS, As a young boy growing up on Easton's South Side, he

often played war games, wrote about military topics when given

writing assignments in school and loved building model ships and

planes, and those who knew him said he was destined to become a

soldier; and

WHEREAS, Sgt. Durkin will be buried with his father, a

Vietnam veteran who died in 1992, in Hays Cemetery in Easton;

and

WHEREAS, St. Durkin is survived by his mother, Mary Ann; his

sister, Megan Rowlands; and two nephews; and

WHEREAS, It is fitting for the courageous and valiant service

of this soldier, who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the service

of his nation, to be honored by the citizens of this

Commonwealth; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor the life of

United States Army Sergeant Sean Michael Durkin, 24, who paid

the ultimate sacrifice on April 9, 2010, as the result of

injuries he received from an improvised explosive device on

March 27, 2010, in Afghanistan.