SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 15
(By Senators Plymale, Beach, Stollings, Jenkins and Edgell)
Requesting the Division of Highways to name bridge number
6-2-16.38, 0.73 miles south of County Route 1, on Route 2 in
Cabell County, West Virginia, the "Army PFC Homer 'Clyde'
Farley, Silver Star Recipient, and Army PFC Max O. Farley,
Double Bronze Star Recipient, Memorial Bridge".
Whereas, Private Homer Farley was born in 1929; and
Whereas, In 1950 Private Homer Farley was in Japan with the
25th I.D., 35th Infantry Regiment; and
Whereas, When war broke out in Korea on June 24, 1950, the
24th Division was the only unit in Korea and was quickly overrun by
the masses of NKPA Inmum Gun units marching southward toward Pusan.
Private Homer Farley's division arrived in Korea on or about July
10, 1950, along with some small numbers of infantry of the 1st
Cavalry Division; and
Whereas, The United States forces were pressed into an area
and were in jeopardy of being pushed off the Korea peninsula by the
overwhelming forces against them when Lt. General Walton Walker,
under the command of Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur, gave a
"stand or die" order to troops in Korea and stated, "We will not have another Dunkirk"; and
Whereas, Private Homer Farley's company was attacked on August
18, 1950, and while many of his unit fled the NKP Army, Private
Homer Farley got up in the back of a jeep and started firing a .50
caliber machine gun into the enemy. He most certainly took out
many of the enemy soldiers to help hold the position but was killed
in action that day. For his instantaneous and selfless actions he
was awarded the Silver Star for Gallantry in Action, the third-
highest military award; and
Whereas, Private Homer Farley was also awarded the Purple
Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the National Defense Service
Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal,
the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea
Service Medal; and
Whereas, It is a sad coincidence that Private Homer Farley was
killed on his brother Max Owen Farley's eighteenth birthday, August
18, 1950. His family was sent a letter from Ira P. Swift, later
the Major General commanding the 25th I.D., expressing sorrow and
regret for Private Homer Farley's death; and
Whereas, Private Homer Farley is buried in Greenbottom
Cemetery, Greenbottom, in Cabell County; and
Whereas, Private Max Farley enlisted in March, 1951, and was
sent to Germany for the Allied Occupation of that country following
World War II. He was prevented from going to Korea, as he wanted to fight, by his mother when she called her U. S. Senator and told
him that she had one son killed in Korea and did not want another
one to suffer the same fate; and
Whereas, Private Max Farley was blocked from entering the
Korean War for months until it was opened up to volunteer status
and his mother could not prevent him from going there and fighting
in the war effort. Private Max Farley was assigned to the 40th
Infantry Division and received two Bronze Stars for Valor which is
given for "Heroism in action against an armed enemy of the United
States". The Bronze Star is the fourth-highest military medal that
a soldier can receive; and
Whereas, Private Max Farley also served with the 3rd Armored
Division's 894th Tank Destroyer Battalion at Fort Knox for three
years with one year in Iceland to provide security to that country
against a possible Soviet attack; and
Whereas, Private Max Farley passed away of lung cancer on June
29, 2007, at the Hospice House in Huntington; and
Whereas, Both Farley brothers served their country and their
state with great distinction of honor, Private Homer Farley having
made the ultimate sacrifice. It is fitting and proper that they be
remembered and acknowledged for their courageous actions and
service; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to name bridge number 6-2-16.38, 0.73 miles south of County Route 1, on
Route 2 in Cabell County, West Virginia, the "Army PFC Homer
'Clyde' Farley, Silver Star Recipient, and Army PFC Max O. Farley,
Double Bronze Star Recipient, Memorial Bridge"; and, be it
Further Resolved,
That the Division of Highways is hereby
requested to have made and be placed signs identifying the bridge
as the
"Army PFC Homer 'Clyde' Farley, Silver Star Recipient, and
Army PFC Max O. Farley, Double Bronze Star Recipient, 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 Commissioner
of the Division of Highways, C. David Farley and the families of
Army PFC Homer "Clyde" Farley and Army PFC Max O. Farley.