Washington, D.C. – Today Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16), with the support of the entire Illinois Congressional Delegation, introduced legislation to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs clinic in Bloomington, Illinois, as the “Andrew Jackson Smith Medal of Honor Department of Veterans Affairs Clinic.”
“Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith served our nation with pride alongside fellow Union soldiers during the Civil War,” said Rep. LaHood. “I am proud to introduce legislation alongside the entire Illinois Congressional Delegation to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Bloomington in his honor. This clinic provides important primary care and specialty health services to our veterans. Renaming the facility will serve as a humble reminder of the sacrifice made by those who defend our country. Together, the Illinois delegation is honored to recognize his immense dedication and service to our nation.”
Background:
Andrew Jackson Smith was the last African American Civil War soldier to receive the Medal of Honor. He was born into slavery, but he escaped and arrived at a Union Army encampment. Smith became a member of the 41st Illinois Volunteer Regiment. After President Lincoln’s decision to allow enslaved African American men to fight for the Union, he enlisted with the 55th Massachusetts Colored Volunteers.
The regiment deployed to South Carolina, where Smith distinguished himself by saving his regimental colors after the color bearer was killed during a bloody charge at the Battle of Honey Hill.
In 2001, 137 years after the Battle of Honey Hill, President Bill Clinton presented Andrew Jackson Smith’s descendants with a posthumous Medal of Honor in an official ceremony at the White House.
Read the full text of the legislation HERE.
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