Introduced Version
House Concurrent Resolution 27 History
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HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 27
(By Delegates Stowers and Eldridge)
Requesting that bridge number 322-10-28.08 on West Virginia Route
10, crossing the Guyandotte River, currently known as the
"West Hamlin Bridge" in Lincoln County, West Virginia, be
named the "Army SSGT Arthur N. McMellon Memorial Bridge".
Whereas, Staff Sergeant Arthur N. McMellon was the seventh
child born to Frank and Garnett McMellon of West Hamlin, Lincoln
County, and attended Guyan Valley High School; and
Whereas, SSGT Arthur N. McMellon had four brothers, Frank, Jr.
of West Hamlin, Forrest of Barboursville, Gerald of Alum Creek and
Jimmy of Star Route 10, near Barboursville, and three of the four
also served in the military; and
Whereas, SSGT Arthur N. McMellon saw combat action in the
United States Army in Korea at the age of seventeen, where he was
missing in action once for 18 days but returned uninjured; and
Whereas, SSGT Arthur N. McMellon never intended to make a
career of the Army, but later reenlisted because he was unable to
find a job in West Virginia and was deployed to a combat area in
Vietnam; and
Whereas, While serving as a mess sergeant, SSGT Arthur N. McMellon was able to scrounge up supplies for and serve a turkey
feast for 71 Vietnamese children who unexpectedly visited his First
Division Company on a Thanksgiving day; and
Whereas, SSGT Arthur N. McMellon's letters home to his wife and
mother described the debilitating heat and humidity endured by the
troops in Vietnam, the intense fighting in the area where he was
stationed near Ben Cat and his desire to be home; and
Whereas, While riding in a Jeep to secure supplies for his
unit, SSGT Arthur N. McMellon was killed December 1, 1965 by a Viet
Cong grenade; and
Whereas, SSGT Arthur N. McMellon was buried in Arlington
National Cemetery on December 16, 1965; and
Whereas, Then Rep. Ken Hechler, D. W.Va., who arranged for the
sergeant's burial at Arlington, said of him, "He showed that human
kindness and love can shine through and can never be obscured by
the muck and grime of a brutal war"; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That bridge number 322-10-28.08 on West Virginia Route 10,
crossing the Guyandotte River, currently known as the "West Hamlin
Bridge" in Lincoln County, West Virginia, be named the "Army SSGT
Arthur N. McMellon Memorial Bridge"; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Commissioner of 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 SSGT Arthur N. McMellon Memorial Bridge"; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates
forward a certified copy of this resolution to the Commissioner of
the Division of Highways.