Committee Substitute

for

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 37

(By Senators Stollings, Plymale, Unger and Maynard)

[Originating in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Reported March 3, 2016]

Requesting Division of Highways to name bridge numbers 22-119-0.04 NB & SB (22A102 & 22A103), latitude 38.18215, longitude -81.84941, on U. S. Route 119, otherwise known as the North Pinnacle Rock Creek Bridge, in Lincoln County, the “U. S. Army PFC Willie Paul Wilson Memorial Bridge”.

Whereas, Willie Paul Wilson, known to his family and friends as “Jenkie”, was born on November 11, 1925, in Julian, West Virginia, to John and Elsie Wilson; and

Whereas, Willie Paul Wilson enlisted in the U. S. Army on February 29, 1944, and was assigned to Company K, 1st Platoon, 262nd Regiment; and

Whereas, PFC Willie Paul Wilson was killed on Christmas Eve, 1944, aboard the S. Leopoldville, a Belgian troopship being used in the English Channel to transport troops and supplies for the Allied war effort. On that evening, a German submarine torpedoed the S. Leopoldville when it was only five miles from the shore, killing at least 802 people in the most deadly tragedy to ever befall an American Infantry Division as the result of an enemy submarine attack; and

Whereas, PFC Willie Paul Wilson was awarded the Purple Heart on June 30, 1945, for the wounds that resulted in his death; and

Whereas, It is fitting that PFC Willie Paul Wilson be memorialized and honored for his great sacrifice in the area where he lived; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Legislature hereby requests the Division of Highways to name bridge numbers 22-119-0.04 NB & SB (22A102 & 22A103), latitude 38.18215, longitude -81.84941, on U. S. Route 119, otherwise known as the North Pinnacle Rock Creek Bridge, in Lincoln County, the “U. S. Army PFC Willie Paul Wilson 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 “U. S. Army PFC Willie Paul Wilson 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 and to the family of Willie Paul Wilson.