HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 48
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss, and Delegates Ashley, L. Smith, Mahan,
Givens, Staton, Mezzatesta, Varner, Michael, Browning, Douglas,
Hatfield, Stemple, Leach, Carmichael, Trump, Fletcher and Doyle)
[Introduced April 3, 2001; referred to the
Committee on Rules.]
Requesting the West Virginia Division of Highways to name the
bridge at the intersection of Route 33 and Route 119 in
Spencer, Roane County, West Virginia, the Colonel Ruby Bradley
Bridge.
Whereas, Ruby Bradley was born in Roane County where she grew
to adulthood and taught in Roane County Schools before joining the
Army Nurse Corps as a surgical nurse in 1934; and
Whereas, While serving in the Army Nurse Corps in the
Philippines during World War II, she was captured by invading
Japanese troops and held as a prisoner of war on Luzon Island
before being transferred to the Santo Tomas Interment Camp in
Manilla where, while held as a prisoner and ignoring hunger and
deplorable conditions, she used her nursing skills to tend to sick
prisoners, and through her efforts, earned the nickname "Angel in
Fatigues"; and
Whereas, After spending thirty-seven months as a prisoner of war she and her fellow prisoners were finally liberated by American
forces and two weeks later she was awarded the Bronze Star for
meritorious achievement while held in captivity by the enemy; and
Whereas, Ruby Bradley, in 1945, was promoted to the rank of
Captain and received a second bronze star in 1946 for service
beyond the call of duty in connection with her service during enemy
military operations from December 8th through the 23rd, 1941; and
Whereas, During the Korean War, Ruby Bradley again served her
country with distinction, this time as the chief nurse in the
Eighth Army, and upon the completion of her service she was
afforded a full dress honor guard ceremony, becoming the first
woman ever to receive a national or international guard salutation;
and
Whereas, On March 4, 1958, then Captain Ruby Bradley was
awarded the rank of Colonel, an honor achieved by only two other
women in Army History, and she went on to be the most decorated
woman in American military history; and
Whereas, After retiring from the Army in 1963 she spent the
next seventeen years in private duty nursing service in her native
Roane County; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the bridge located at the intersection of Route 33 and Route 119 in Spencer Roane County be named the "Colonel Ruby
Bradley Bridge; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House is hereby
requested to forward a copy of this resolution to the headquarters
of the United States Army in Washington, D.C. and to the West
Virginia State Department of Highways.