SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 34

(By Senators Pitsenbarger, Azinger, Baldwin, Facemire, Hamilton, Romano, Stollings, Unger, Jeffries, and Lindsay)

[Introduced February 14, 2020]

Requesting the Division of Highways name bridge number 34-001/00-000.10 (34A144), locally known as Strange Creek Bridge, carrying County Route 1 over Strange Creek in Nicholas County, the “U.S. Army CPL Dane Hampton Hamric Memorial Bridge”.

Whereas, Dane Hampton Hamric, born on December 14, 1920, in Sutton, West Virginia, was one of 10 children born to Allen Corley Hamric and Mable Goldie Craft Hamric of Braxton County; and

Whereas, CPL Dane Hampton Hamric served in the U.S. Army 60th Coast Artillery Regiment for seven years before his heroic death in a Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camp in the Philippines on December 18, 1944; and

Whereas, CPL Dane Hampton Hamric was stationed in Corregidor with the 1st Separate Marine Battalion when WWII broke out in December 1941. He fought there with what became the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment which consisted of combined units from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and locally recruited Filipino soldiers; and

Whereas, Units at Corregidor were forced to surrender to the Japanese on May 6, 1942, and were held in prison on Corregidor, until they were moved first to Manila and then to Puerto Princesa on the Island of Palawan. Of the thousands of allied military personnel taken prisoner by the Japanese, approximately 346 American POWs remained from August 1, 1942, until December 14, 1944, in the Philippines where they were shipped to Palawan to build an airfield for the Japanese; and

Whereas, The Palawan compound was known as Camp-10A, and the American POWs held captive there received brutal treatment from Japanese guards. The men starved, suffered from diseases like malaria, scurvy, and pellagra, and endured hard labor. Medical care was nonexistent and medical supplies from the American Red Cross, intended for American POWS, were seized by the Japanese for their own use. In September 1944, 159 of the American POWS were returned to Manila, leaving 150 men behind to complete the airfield; and

Whereas, On December 14, 1944, Japanese aircraft reported the presence of an American convoy which was mistakenly believed to be headed for Palawan, and POWs were sent into trenched shelters they had built for protection during allied air raids. Guards doused the shelters with gasoline and used torches to set them on fire with the men inside. Most of the American POWs who managed to escape the burning shelters were shot, bayoneted, or beaten to death as they hid among rocks on the beach or attempted to swim across Puerto Princesa’s bay. Four American officers, who were also held captive at the camp, had their dugout set on fire during the massacre; and

Whereas, Of the known 150 American POWs present at the Palawan camp, 139 were murdered on December 14, 1944, and 11 survived. CPL Dane Hampton Hamric was able to escape the prison yard but was hit in the arm by rifle fire. He hid in a cave on the beach for four days before succumbing to his injuries, and was buried in a makeshift grave by a surviving POW. His body was never recovered, and on December 18, 1944, he was recorded by the U.S. Army as Reported Dead While Captured, Prisoner of War; and

Whereas, CPL Dane Hampton Hamric is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. CPL Dane Hampton Hamric was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal and the Purple Heart, Service Number 15017127; and

Whereas, It is fitting that an enduring memorial be established to commemorate CPL Dane Hampton Hamric for his service and sacrifice for his state and country; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to name bridge number 34-001/00-000.10 (34A144), locally known as Strange Creek Bridge, carrying County Route 1 over Strange Creek in Nicholas County, the “U.S. Army CPL Dane Hampton Hamric 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 CPL Dane Hampton Hamric 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 David R. Hamric, P.O. Box 83, Dille, WV 26617.