46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF AND APPRECIATION FOR THE LIFE OF LOUIS RICHARD ROCCO.

WHEREAS, Louis Richard Rocco died October 31, 2001 of lung cancer; and

WHEREAS, he was born on November 19, 1938 in Albuquerque; and

WHEREAS, in 1970, he volunteered to assist a medical team, whose mission was to evacuate eight severely wounded soldiers; and

WHEREAS, he crashed with that team in a helicopter, under intense enemy fire in South Vietnam; and

WHEREAS, with burned hands, a fractured wrist and hip and a severely bruised back, he carried three survivors to safety through twenty meters of hostile fire; and

WHEREAS, he received the Medal of Honor in 1974 for his valor; and

WHEREAS, he grew up in East Los Angeles, where he dropped out of high school and was frequently in trouble with the law; and

WHEREAS, he was arrested, at the age of sixteen, for armed robbery; and

WHEREAS, within one hour after his sentencing, he walked into an army recruiting office and found himself telling his life story to a sympathetic officer; and

WHEREAS, the officer helped Rocco get a suspended sentence, and the court said that if he stayed in school, obeyed a curfew and shunned his gang, he could join the army at age seventeen; and

WHEREAS, he received his general equivalency diploma and an associate's degree before leaving the army in 1978; and

WHEREAS, he served as director of the New Mexico veterans' service commission; and

WHEREAS, he worked extensively for advocacy groups to keep children off drugs and out of gangs; and

WHEREAS, as he was dying, he told an interviewer that he was forgiving and "at peace" and said, "I'm going to die; I don't want to die angry";

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that condolences be expressed to the family and friends of Louis Richard Rocco, a loving and devoted New Mexican; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to his wife, Maria.