Polish American Police Association 2008 Family Picnic
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
NEW LOCATION
Lake Avenue Woods East
Grove 1
River Rd. & Euclid Ave.
Mt. Prospect, IL
Who We Are?
The Polish American Police Association of Chicago and Illinois (P.A.P.A.) is a social and fraternal organization, founded in 1964, for Chicago Police Officers and their families who are of Polish and Slavic descent. Since then P.A.P.A. has grown beyond the City of Chicago and now encompasses members from more than 50 local, state, county and Federal law enforcement agencies within the State of Illinois and across the country. P.A.P.A. even has members who are police officers in Poland. Civilians from all communities and professions with strong ties to their heritage and/or law enforcement are welcomed as Associate members. P.A.P.A. currently has over 400 active and associate members.
P.A.P.A. activities include general membership monthly meetings, a yearly race track outing, a family picnic, participation in the Polish Constitution Day Parade and an annual dinner dance recognizing individuals whose accomplishments reflect pride in their heritage and have a positive impact on the community. Proceeds from this and other events help finance the P.A.P.A. college scholarship fund. P.A.P.A. grants three partial college scholarships to the children of its members.
P.A.P.A. is a pro active organization interested in fostering the fraternal, ethnic, cultural, educational, civic, charitable, political and professional interests of its members and the Polish-Slavic communities. P.A.P.A. provides financial and manpower support for various social service and professional organizations that provide services to the immigrant and Polish-American community.
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Honorary Citizenship To Casimir Pulaski
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced in August, 2005 he has introduced legislation in the Senate to proclaim Casimir Pulaski to be an honorary citizen of the United States. Pulaski, a Polish nobleman and army officer, a hero for the colonial forces during the American Revolution. Pulaski was born in Podolia (now in Ukraine). In 1768 Pulaski took part in the Confederation of Bar, a patriotic Polish revolt against Russian control of Poland, and became a leader of the patriots. The revolt was unsuccessful and he escaped to the Ottoman Empire. In 1775 he was in France, where the representative of the American colonies, Benjamin Franklin, induced him to join the American colonists in their fight against Great Britain. He arrived in Philadelphia and entered the Continental Army in 1777. For distinguished service at the Battle of the Brandywine he was appointed chief of dragoons with the rank of brigadier general the same year.
In 1778, with a commission from the Continental Congress, Pulaski organized an independent corps of cavalry and light infantry, known as the Pulaski Legion. Pulaski and the corps were ordered to South Carolina in 1779 to support the American general Benjamin Lincoln. They reached Charleston, South Carolina, in May and helped to defend the city against a British attack. Later that year Pulaski joined forces with General Lincoln, who, assisted by a French force, was planning to besiege Savannah, Georgia. The Polish general commanded the French and American cavalry during the siege, but in an attack on October 9, 1779, he was mortally wounded and died two days later.
After coming to America, he wrote to George Washington, “I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it.”
“Casimir Pulaski made the ultimate sacrifice in pursuit of American freedom,” Durbin said. “When we think of our nation’s struggle for freedom in its early years, we also must think of Casimir Pulaski and his brave contributions to our nation’s birth.”
Benjamin Franklin encountered Pulaski while in Paris and recommended that Washington accept Pulaski as a volunteer in the in the American Calvary. Washington elevated Pulaski to Brigadier General of the American Cavalry on September 15, 1777—just four days after Pulaski saved Washington’s life and averted defeat at the Battle of Brandywine. In 1779, he fought the British in Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. It was as a result of his actions in Savannah that he died.
Pulaski has been honored throughout our nation’s history. In September, 1929, Congress designated October 11 as Pulaski Day to be observed by Presidential Proclamation; it also authorized the Post Office to issue a Pulaski commemorative stamp. In 1973, Illinois designated the first Monday of March as Pulaski Commemorative day in Illinois and in 1986 declared the day to be a state holiday.
An identical measure introduced in the House of Representatives has 22 co-sponsors, including the following Illinois members: Dan Lipinski, Rahm Emanuel, John Shimkus, Jerry Costello, Jan Schakowsky and Luis Gutierrez. This Joint Resolution would need to pass the House and Senate, as well as be signed by the President, to grant Pulaski posthumous honorary citizenship.
Only six people have ever been declared honorary citizens of the United States. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was the first in 1963 and Marquis de la Fayette, a Frenchman who supported the American Revolution, was the last in 2002. The others were Swedish diplomat and Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg in 1981, Pennsylvania co-founder and governor William Callowhill Penn and his wife Hannah—a Pennsylvania administrator—in 1984, and Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu—better known as Mother Teresa—in 1996.
