Committee Substitute

for

Senate Concurrent Resolution 10

By Senators Hunt and Jeffries

[Originating in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; reported on February 27, 2023]

Requesting the Division of Highways name a 1.7 mile stretch of highway, beginning at the intersection of Route 20/1 and County Route 20, also known as Mulberry Ridge Road, in Roane County, West Virginia, the "U.S. Army Air Corps PVT Albert J. Sutphin Memorial Highway".

Whereas, Albert J. Sutphin was born on July 7, 1920, in Spencer, West Virginia, the son of Albert Lee Sutphin and Lillie Frances Nelson Sutphin; and

Whereas, Following high school, Albert J. Sutphin married Doris Pauline Morehead Sutphin, had two children, Laura June and Joseph Lee Sutphin, and was employed as a welder; and

Whereas, PVT Albert J. Sutphin enlisted in the United States Army on April 13, 1943, in Huntington, West Virginia; and

Whereas, Albert J. Sutphin served as a Private, 32nd Photographic Squadron, 5th Reconnaissance Group, U.S. Army Air Force during World War II; and

Whereas, PVT Albert J. Sutphin was a passenger on the S.S. Paul Hamilton (Hull Number 227) for her fifth voyage that left from Hampton Roads, Virginia, on April 2, 1944, as part of convoy UGS 38, carrying supplies and the ground personnel of the 485th Bombardment Group and the 5th Reconnaissance Group of the United States Army Air Forces to Italy; and

Whereas, On the evening of April 20, 1944, the S.S. Paul Hamilton and other ships in the convoy were attacked 30 miles (48 km) off the coast of Cap Benngut in the Mediterranean Sea near Algiers by 23 German Ju 88 Bombers; and

Whereas, A single aerial torpedo struck the S.S. Paul Hamilton and detonated the cargo of high explosives and bombs, and the ship and crew disappeared within 30 seconds, with a total of approximately 580 men lost at sea; and

Whereas, PVT Albert J. Sutphin was declared "missing in action" in the sinking of the S.S. Paul Hamilton during World War II, and was awarded the Purple Heart; and

Whereas, PVT Albert J. Sutphin was memorialized for his service on the Tablets of the Missing in the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia; and

Whereas, It is fitting that an enduring memorial be established to commemorate U.S. Army Air Corps PVT Albert J. Sutphin and his sacrifice to our nation and state; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to name a 1.7 mile stretch of highway, beginning at the intersection of Route 20/1 and County Route 20, also known as Mulberry Ridge Road, in Roane County, West Virginia, the "U.S. Army Air Corps PVT Albert J. Sutphin Memorial Highway"; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to have made and be placed signs identifying the road as the "U.S. Army Air Corps PVT Albert J. Sutphin Memorial Highway"; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate forward a copy of this resolution to the Commissioner of the Division of Highways.