COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

House Concurrent Resolution No. 39

(By Delegates Moore, Gearheart, L. Phillips and H. White)

(Originating in the House Committee on Roads and Transportation)

[February 16, 2015]

Requesting the Division of Highways to name the bridge on Route 52 over Tug Fork in McDowell County, bridge number 24-52-20.04 (24A129), latitude 37.41709, longitude -81.58999, locally known as the Coney Island Bridge, as the "USMC LCpl Julius C. "Corky" Foster Memorial Bridge".

            Whereas, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster grew up in McDowell County and graduated from Welch High School in 1956; and

            Whereas, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster joined the Marine Corps Reserve in 1961, under the six-month reserve program, and during his six-year tour, he attended West Virginia University where he ultimately earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1967. While in Morgantown, he was active in the All-Campus Party and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity; and

            Whereas, On August 27, 1967 U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster began his thirty-one-day and 406-mile hike to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to reenlist. Even though his feet became blistered during the first thirty miles of his trek, Lance Corporal Foster persevered. Although he didn't carry a flag or anything else announcing his intentions, Lance Corporal Foster said that people along the way "took me into their hearts and homes;" and

            Whereas, Although he had completed his tour in the Reserves, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster said in an interview with Bluefield Daily Telegraph staff reporter, Rob Dalton, that during his last year in college, he decided to reenlist after he earned his degree, and as that time grew closer, he decided to make a statement with his reenlistment that would demonstrate his personal commitment to the war in Vietnam and what he believed was the sentiment of most Americans. Mr. Dalton quoted Lance Corporal Foster as saying that the Vietnam War is "a struggle that is clouded, but just. I feel that we are historically and morally justified in aiding the common people of South Vietnam;" and

            Whereas, After reenlisting, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster asked to be assigned to Vietnam. Soon thereafter he got a fourteen-day leave, and he visited his parents in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where they had moved when Lance Corporal Foster went to college. He returned to the Marines as a Lance Corporal and was assigned to Camp Pendleton, California, before being sent to and arriving in Vietnam on December 6, 1967; and

            Whereas, On February 16, 1968, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster spoke with his mother, Maxine Cartwright Foster, via ham radio network setup that connected him from Vietnam to Denver, Colorado, and on to Winston-Salem. During that call, Lance Corporal Foster told her he had just been released from a combat area hospital where he had been treated for foot ailments; and

            Whereas, Less than one week later, on February 22, 1968, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster led a patrol from his headquarters at Quang Tri to Hill 861 near Khe Sanh when they were hit with mortar fire, killing Lance Corporal Foster and 21 other Marines. Lance Corporal Foster was twenty-nine years old. A political rally for student offices at West Virginia University was halted and participants bowed their heads and observed a moment of silence in his memory when student leaders learned of his death; and

            Whereas, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster's remains were returned to Welch in early March 1968 where funeral services were conducted at the Welch First Baptist Church. A Marine Corps Honor Guard from Charleston conducted military graveside rites at the Woodlawn Mausoleum in Bluewell; and

            Whereas, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster's story about his journey and his eventual death in Vietnam was nationally covered; and

            Whereas, There is a road named and a monument placed in Camp Lejuene in US Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster's honor; and

            Whereas, It is fitting that an enduring memorial be established to commemorate U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Foster, a native son who gave the ultimate sacrifice for his state and his country, by naming the bridge on Route 52 over Tug Fork in McDowell County, bridge number 24-52-20.04 (24A129), latitude 37.41709, longitude -81.58999, locally known as the Coney Island Bridge, as the "USMC LCpl Julius C. "Corky" Foster Memorial Bridge"; therefore, be it

            Resolved by the West Virginia Legislature:

            That the Legislature hereby requests the Division of Highways to name the bridge on Route 52 over Tug Fork in McDowell County, bridge number 24-52-20.04 (24A129), latitude 37.41709, longitude -81.58999, locally known as the Coney Island Bridge, as the "USMC LCpl Julius C. "Corky" Foster 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 "USMC LCpl Julius C. "Corky" Foster Memorial Bridge"; and, be it

            Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates forward a certified copy of this resolution to the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Charles "Bud" Gearhart, Roy M. Ellison, Jr., Bill Archer of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Danny Barie and Marine Corps Veteran, Bud Facello.