HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 105

(By Delegates Maynard, Eldridge, C. Miller and Hornbuckle)

[Introduced March 25, 2017]

Requesting that the Division of Highways name bridge number 322-10-28.14 (22A038) (38.28695, -82.19690), currently known as the West Hamlin Bridge, carrying West Virginia Route 10 over the Guyandotte River in Lincoln County, West Virginia, the “Army SSG Arthur N. McMellon Memorial Bridge”.

Whereas, Staff Sergeant Arthur N. McMellon was the seventh child born to Frank and Garnett McMellon of West Hamlin, Lincoln County, and attended Guyan Valley High School. Arthur N. McMellon had four brothers, Frank, Jr. of West Hamlin, Forrest of Barboursville, Gerald of Alum Creek and Jimmy of Star Route 10, near Barboursville, and three of the four also served in the military; and

Whereas, SSG Arthur N. McMellon saw combat action in the United States Army in Korea at the age of seventeen, where he was missing in action once for 18 days but returned uninjured. He never intended to make a career of the Army, but later reenlisted because he was unable to find a job in West Virginia and was deployed to a combat area in Vietnam. While serving as a mess sergeant, SSG Arthur N. McMellon was able to scrounge up supplies for and serve a turkey feast for 71 Vietnamese children who unexpectedly visited his First Division Company on a Thanksgiving Day. His letters home to his wife and mother described the debilitating heat and humidity endured by the troops in Vietnam, the intense fighting in the area where he was stationed near Ben Cat and his desire to be home; and

Whereas, While riding in a Jeep to secure supplies for his unit, SSG Arthur N. McMellon was killed December 1, 1965, by a Viet Cong grenade. SSG Arthur N. McMellon was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on December 16, 1965. Rep. Ken Hechler, D. W.Va., who arranged for the sergeant’s burial at Arlington, said of him, “He showed that human kindness and love can shine through and can never be obscured by the muck and grime of a brutal war”; therefore, be it

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That bridge number 322-10-28.14, (22A038) (38.28695, -82.19690), currently known as the West Hamlin Bridge, carrying West Virginia Route 10 over the Guyandotte River, in Lincoln County, West Virginia, be named the “Army SSG Arthur N. McMellon Memorial Bridge”; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Commissioner of the Division of Highways is hereby requested to erect signs at both ends of the bridge containing bold and prominent letters proclaiming the bridge the “Army SSG Arthur N. McMellon Memorial Bridge”; and, be it

Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates, forward a certified copy of this resolution to the Commissioner of the Division of Highways.