State of South Dakota

EIGHTY-SEVENTH SESSION
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, 2012

465T0811

HOUSE COMMEMORATION NO. 1023

Introduced by: Representatives Kloucek, Blake, Brunner, Cronin, Dennert, Elliott, Gibson, Greenfield, Haggar, Hansen (Jon), Hawley, Iron Cloud III, Magstadt, Miller, Perry, Romkema, Tornow, Tulson, Wick, and Wink and Senators Putnam, Begalka, Brown, Buhl, Frerichs, Fryslie, Gray, Haverly, Hunhoff (Jean), Juhnke, Krebs, Olson (Russell), Rave, Sutton, Tidemann, and Tieszen

A LEGISLATIVE COMMEMORATION, Commending and honoring Spc. Dennis Jensen who was killed on active duty in Afghanistan.

WHEREAS, Spc. Dennis Gregory Jensen from Tyndall, South Dakota, died in Afghanistan on August 16, 2011, from injuries suffered while working with bridge materials near Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, Spc. Jensen was serving with the South Dakota National Guard in the 200th Engineer Company in Afghanistan when he was killed at the age of twenty-one; and

WHEREAS, Spc. Jensen was originally enlisted as a member of the 211th Engineer Company of Madison and DeSmet, in which he served as a combat engineer; and

WHEREAS, Spc. Jensen volunteered to deploy with the 200th Engineer Company as a bridge crew member in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was deployed in May 2011, for a year-long mission to maintain, repair, and replace bridges throughout Afghanistan; and

WHEREAS, Spc. Jensen is survived by his mother, Christine Bestgen of Lead, his father, Glenn Jensen of Yankton, and his sister, Melissa Jensen of Minneapolis, Minnesota:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT COMMEMORATED, by the Eighty-seventh Legislature of the State of South Dakota, that the Legislature honors Spc. Dennis Jensen for his sacrifice to his country, and the Legislature expresses its sincere condolences to his family and friends.