COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 15

(By Senators Plymale, Beach, Stollings, Jenkins and Edgell)

[Originating in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure]

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 “U. S. Army PFC Homer ‘Clyde’ Farley and U. S. Army PFC Max O. Farley 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 Korean 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 for valor; 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 individual 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 “U. S. Army PFC Homer ‘Clyde’ Farley and U. S. Army PFC Max O. Farley 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 Homer ‘Clyde’ Farley and U. S. Army PFC Max O. Farley 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 U. S. Army PFC Homer “Clyde” Farley and U. S. Army PFC Max O. Farley.