Committee Substitute

for

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 34

(By Senator Roberts)

[Originating in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; reported April 1, 2021]

Requesting the Division of Highways name bridge number 55-010/00-031.60 (55A035), locally known as Jesse Bridge, carrying WV 10 over Laurel Fork in Wyoming County, the “U.S. Air Force TSGT Franklin A. Bradford Memorial Bridge”.

Whereas, Franklin Abb Bradford was born at the Stevens Hospital in Welch, West Virginia, on March 21, 1950. He was the son of a coal miner and grew up in a coal camp house where he graduated from Pineville High School in 1969. With the Vietnam War underway, Franklin A. Bradford voluntarily enlisted in the United States Air Force in the fall of 1969; and

Whereas, TSGT Franklin A. Bradford spent his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He served a first tour of duty in the Southeast Asian theater of conflict.   TSGT Franklin A. Bradford served with the civil engineering unit called Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force (BEEF), where he served as a machine gunner.  Prime BEEF was a rapidly deployable squadron of specialized civil engineering unit members who provided a full range of engineering support for command operations; and

Whereas, TSGT Franklin A. Bradford was stationed at Beale Air Force Base in California where he helped assemble the SR-71 Blackbird, an Air Force reconnaissance aircraft intended to operate at extreme velocities, altitudes, and temperatures that played a key role in gathering intelligence during the Cold War; and

Whereas, TSGT Franklin A. Bradford was stationed at the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany and flew on international missions. After Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted from Iran on February 11, 1979, at the start of the Iranian Revolution, the Shah was welcomed into the United States for cancer treatments. In protest, Iranian students took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding Americans hostage for more than 440 days. TSGT Franklin A. Bradford took part in one of the airlift rescue missions for embassy members during what would become known as the Iranian hostage crisis; and

Whereas, TSGT Franklin A. Bradford transferred to Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina where he served as a quality control specialist for the mechanical air command, and then he transferred to the strategic air command at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Following his service in Texas, TSGT Franklin A. Bradford was sent to Kunsan Air Force Base in South Korea to a combat readiness unit, the 8th Fighter Wing, known as The Wolf Pack. This was a strategic unit trained and prepared to execute immediate air combat against any aggressors threating the United States or South Korea.  His final duty station was at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama where he worked as a manpower management technician; and

Whereas, TSGT Franklin A. Bradford always made time to volunteer with local schools, the Special Olympics, and the Red Cross wherever he was stationed. While stationed in San Antonio, Pope John Paul II visited the city in September 1987 and conducted an outdoor mass with several thousand attendees, some of whom suffered the effects of the hot Texas sun.  He served with the Red Cross during the event, brought water and refreshments to attendees, and helped many who succumbed to the heat to shelter for assistance. The heart of a West Virginian is one of servitude and TSGT Franklin A. Bradford displayed this quality whenever presented with the opportunity; and

Whereas, Upon retirement from the Air Force in 1991, TSGT Franklin A. Bradford went back to school at Bluefield State College and earned a bachelor’s degree, which allowed him to begin a career with the United States Department of Defense as a contract specialist with the Naval Sea Command and NASA. His duty station was at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. When a transfer opportunity opened for the Department of Defense in Blacksburg, Virginia, TSGT Franklin A. Bradford seized the chance to return home and moved to Princeton, West Virginia. He eventually worked with the Veterans Administration Hospital in Beckley, West Virginia, as a contract specialist, and enjoyed his time serving the needs of fellow veterans; and

Whereas, TSGT Franklin A. Bradford passed away on October 18, 2020; and

Whereas, It is fitting that an enduring memorial be established to commemorate U.S. Air force TSGT Franklin A. Bradford for his honorable service to our 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 55-010/00-031.60 (55A035), locally known as Jesse Bridge, carrying WV 10 over Laurel Fork in Wyoming County, the “U.S. Air Force TSGT Franklin A. Bradford 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. Air Force TSGT Franklin A. Bradford 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.