HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 35

(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Thompson, and Delegates

Perdue and Stephens)
Requesting the Division of Highways to name the Dickson beam-span bridge, crossing Twelve Pole Creek, on Route 152, Dickson, West Virginia, identification #50-152-3839 (3542), the "Noah Stephens Bridge."

Whereas, Noah Stephens was born February 29, 1924, the tenth child of Tolbert and Effie Stephens, in Wayne County, West Virginia. Noah's father was a hardworking farmer and his mother was a midwife who traveled the county helping mothers in childbirth; and
Whereas, Noah Stephens's work ethic and resiliency were forged early growing up as a child in the Great Depression, and then put to the test in World War II when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; and
Whereas, Two months before graduating high school, Noah Stephens, after turning eighteen, rode a bus to Columbus, enlisted in the Army, and earned a GED in bootcamp; and
Whereas, Noah Stephens was shipped out to England, eventually landing in France in June, 1944, for the Normandy D-Day invasion; and
Whereas, After the breakthrough in Normandy, Noah Stephens was assigned to the 94th Infantry Division, 302 Regiment, Company L, Second Platoon in Le Havre, France, where he began fighting his way into Germany; and
Whereas, On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched a surprise counter-offensive, known as the Battle of the Bulge, which took the allies completely by surprise. The Germans hit the center of the allied lines at the thinly held Ardennes with over a quarter of a million men; and
Whereas, Within eight days the Germans had cut deeply into allied territory. Noah and his platoon were surrounded for eleven days. At times, the temperature dipped to minus thirty-five degrees below zero. Their food supply dwindled to seven cans of C- rations. The men were forced to lay low, taking shelter in foxholes dug from the frozen solid earth; and
Whereas, On Friday, February 16, 1945, the Wayne County News published the following account: "Mr. and Mrs. Tolbert Stevens (sic) have received word that their son, Pvt. Noah Stevens (sic),
has been missing in action in France since January 21. He had been in service about 2 years"; and
Whereas, In fact, Noah and twenty other men had survived enemy fire, hunger and the bitter cold, to cross the enemy lines and make it back to allied territory. The surviving twenty three men were sent to a hospital in Birmingham, England, where eighteen of them required amputations due to extreme frostbite. Noah was so badly frostbitten he was scheduled to have both feet amputated. He refused, later healed, and became one of only five men in his entire platoon to not undergo an amputation; and
Whereas, Believing their son, Noah Stephens, had been dead since January, his parents were overjoyed to receive a letter from him in March relating his struggle and improbable survival; and
Whereas, On March 30, 1945, the Wayne County News ran an updated article on Noah Stephens being awarded the Silver Star and Combat Infantry Badge for his gallantry in action in an attack on the town of Tettington, Germany, with the 94th Infantry Division. Noah also received the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, and three campaign stars for service in Northern France, the Ardennes, and the Rhineland; and
Whereas, Upon his return from service in World War Two, Noah Stephens married his sweetheart Lorene Russell and they started a family. Within a year their first son Lemuel was born, followed by sons Gary and Delmas and a daughter named Shelia; and
Whereas, In order to provide for his family, Noah began working in the coal mines, then worked in the factories of Detroit and Columbus, and finally attended trade school in Huntington, on the GI Bill, to become a machinist; and
Whereas, Noah Stephens went on in life to become both a successful family man and businessman, owning his own trucking and building companies, surviving hardship and family illness and, after more than fifty two years, is still married to, loving and caring for his wife Lorene; and
Whereas, Imbued by their parents with a strong work ethic, Noah and Lorene's children have all gone on to become successful entrepreneurs. It is fitting that they thought to honor their father, who will be eighty four years old on February 29, 2008, by seeking to memorialize his honorable life by naming the Dickson bridge after and dedicating it to him; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Legislature hereby requests the Division of Highways name the Dickson beam-span bridge, crossing Twelve Pole Creek, on Route 152, Dickson, West Virginia, identification #50-152-3839 (3542), the "Noah Stephens Bridge"; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to erect appropriate signage at the entryway of each end of the bridge; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates forward certified copies of this resolution to the Commissioner of Highways, to the Wayne County Commission, and to the family of Noah Stephens.