Introduced Version
Senate Concurrent Resolution 1 History
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Committee Substitute (1)
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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 1
(By Senators Barnes and Tucker)
Requesting the Division of Highways name bridge number 42-43-0.16,
the Becky's Creek Bridge on Route 43 crossing over the Tygart
Valley River in Huttonsville, Randolph County, the "Army Sgt.
Cecil W. Kittle, Jr., Memorial Bridge".
Whereas, Sergeant Kittle was born on March 15, 1940, in
Randolph County to Cecil Wilbert Kittle, Sr., and Omega Virginia
Armentrout Kittle. He had a brother, Master Sergeant Floyd A.
Kittle, and two sisters, Carolyn Darlene Kittle and Eva Fae Knight;
and
Whereas, In July, 1962, Sergeant Kittle married Betty Irene
Wilt Kittle. They had two children, Richard Nicholas Kittle and
Randall Lee Kittle; and
Whereas, Sergeant Kittle was a career soldier who first
entered the Army in July, 1958, after attending Tygarts Valley High
School. He served several tours of duty in Europe with the Seventh
Army and, in 1961, was involved with activities surrounding the
Berlin Wall Crisis while serving with the 51st infantry in Germany;
and
Whereas, In 1965 Sergeant Kittle arrived in Vietnam where he served as a helicopter gunner and a paratrooper in Company C,
Second Battalion, Seventh Calvary, and First Air Calvary Division
(Airmobile). This unit was involved in the heaviest fighting at the
Battle of Ia Drang Valley and Chu Pong Mountain, the first major
battle in the Vietnam War; and
Whereas, American leaders had decided to use newly developed
airmobile tactics by flying in American troops by helicopter and
Lieutenant General Hal Moore's First Battalion of the Seventh
Cavalry was given this assignment in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley;
and
Whereas, The Battle at Ia Drang Valley began on November 14,
1965, and Sergeant Kittle was part of the military's operation to
bring troops into Ia Drang Valley to locate the North Vietnamese
Army. Lieutenant General Moore had sixteen helicopters to bring in
troops which took four hours to get all of his men on the ground.
Heavy fire began immediately and the first American soldiers who
were dropped off into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Val1ey,
known as Landing Zone X-Ray, were immediately surrounded and
attacked by two thousand North Vietnamese soldiers. Dozens of men
died within this first wave of attacks during the battle, which
continued for three more days; and
Whereas, On November 17, 1965, American military operations
were moved to Landing Zone Albany, where U. S. troops were again
attacked by the North Vietnamese Army. This second wave of attacks was considered the deadliest ambush of a U. S. unit during the
entire course of the Vietnam War. During the night North Vietnamese
soldiers walked through the woods executing all wounded American
soldiers; and
Whereas, Air strikes and artillery eventually allowed U. S.
troops to secure the area and rescue the survivors. More than
three hundred of the four hundred fifty U. S. soldiers were killed
in the Battle of Ia Drang Val1ey; and
Whereas, Sergeant Kittle was killed as a result of hostile
action while on a search and destroy mission during the Battle of
Ia Drang Valley. He died during the second wave of North Vietnamese
attacks on November 17, 1965, at the age of twenty-five. A month
later, December 24, 1965, his second son, Randall Lee Kittle, was
born; and
Whereas, Sergeant Kittle was one of nine West Virginia
soldiers who died at the Battle of Ia Drang Val1ey. Being a native
of Huttonsville, he was also the first Randolph County soldier to
be killed in the Vietnam War. He is buried at the Old Brick
Cemetery in Huttonsville along with his parents and other family
members; and
Whereas, The Battle at Ia Drang Valley set the tone for the
remainder of the Vietnam War as American forces continued to rely
on air mobility and heavy fire support; and
Whereas, Sergeant Kittle was awarded the Purple Heart, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the
National Defense Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Seventh
Cavalry Garry Owen Patch and the Combat Infantry Badge; and
Whereas, Sergeant Kittle's name is listed on the Vietnam
Memorial Wall in Washington, D. C., Panel 3E, Row 82; and
Whereas, The battle in which Sergeant Kittle died was
documented in the 1965 CBS Special Report "Battle of Ia Drang
Valley" and in the book "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young" by
Lieutenant General Hal Moore and reporter Joseph Galloway, who was
also at the battle. That book also served as the basis of the 2002
movie "We Were Soldiers" starring Mel Gibson; and
Whereas, Two local articles also chronicled the book and
movie's significance to West Virginia and the people of Randolph
County. The headlines read: "Current Vietnam Film has Personal
Meaning for Area Residents" in the March 9, 2002, issue of the
Elkins Inter-Mountain newspaper and "We Were Solders: West Virginia
Veterans Remember Battle at Ia Drang Valley" in the March 7, 2002,
issue of the Charleston Gazette newspaper. They are archived at the
Cultural Center in Charleston and in the Wise Library in
Morgantown. Sergeant Kittle's November 22, 1965, obituary is also
archived at The Elkins Inter-Mountain newspaper library (Vol. LIX
No. 45); and
Whereas, It is fitting to honor Sergeant Cecil W. Kittle, Jr.,
for his commitment, dedication and service to his country and to his state, having given the ultimate sacrifice; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to name
bridge number 42-43-0.16, the Becky's Creek Bridge on Route 43
crossing over the Tygart Valley River in Huttonsville, Randolph
County, the "Army Sgt. Cecil W. Kittle, Jr., Memorial Bridge"; and,
be it
Further Resolved, That the Division of Highways is hereby
requested to erect signs at both ends of the bridge containing bold
and prominent letters proclaiming the bridge the "Army Sgt. Cecil
W. Kittle, Jr., Memorial Bridge"; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby
directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the Secretary of
the Department of Transportation and to Sergeant Kittle's son,
Randall Lee Kittle.