COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 1

(By Senators Barnes and Tucker)

[Originating in the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure]

Requesting the Division of Highways name bridge number 42-43-0.16, the Becky’s Creek Bridge on Route 43 crossing over the Tygart Valley River in Huttonsville, Randolph County, the "U. S. Army Sgt. Cecil W. Kittle, Jr., Memorial Bridge".

    Whereas, Sergeant Kittle was born on March 15, 1940, in Randolph County to Cecil Wilbert Kittle, Sr., and Omega Virginia Armentrout Kittle. He had a brother, Master Sergeant Floyd A. Kittle, and two sisters, Carolyn Darlene Kittle and Eva Fae Knight; and

    Whereas, In July, 1962, Sergeant Kittle married Betty Irene Wilt Kittle. They had two children, Richard Nicholas Kittle and Randall Lee Kittle; and

    Whereas, Sergeant Kittle was a career soldier who first entered the Army in July, 1958, after attending Tygarts Valley High School. He served several tours of duty in Europe with the Seventh Army and, in 1961, was involved with activities surrounding the Berlin Wall Crisis while serving with the 51st Infantry in Germany; and

    Whereas, In 1965 Sergeant Kittle arrived in Vietnam where he served as a helicopter gunner and a paratrooper in Company C, Second Battalion, Seventh Calvary, and First Air Calvary Division (Airmobile). This unit was involved in the heaviest fighting at the Battle of Ia Drang Valley and Chu Pong Mountain, the first major battle in the Vietnam War; and

    Whereas, American leaders had decided to use newly developed airmobile tactics by flying in American troops by helicopter and Lieutenant General Hal Moore's First Battalion of the Seventh Cavalry was given this assignment in the Battle of Ia Drang Valley; and

    Whereas, The Battle at Ia Drang Valley began on November 14, 1965, and Sergeant Kittle was part of the military's operation to bring troops into Ia Drang Valley to locate the North Vietnamese Army. Lieutenant General Moore had sixteen helicopters to bring in troops which took four hours to get all of his men on the ground. Heavy fire began immediately and the first American soldiers who were dropped off into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Val1ey, known as Landing Zone X-Ray, were immediately surrounded and attacked by two thousand North Vietnamese soldiers. Dozens of men died within this first wave of attacks during the battle, which continued for three more days; and

    Whereas, On November 17, 1965, American military operations were moved to Landing Zone Albany, where U. S. troops were again attacked by the North Vietnamese Army. This second wave of attacks was considered the deadliest ambush of a U. S. unit during the entire course of the Vietnam War. During the night North Vietnamese soldiers walked through the woods executing all wounded American soldiers; and

    Whereas, Air strikes and artillery eventually allowed U. S. troops to secure the area and rescue the survivors. More than three hundred of the four hundred fifty U. S. soldiers were killed in the Battle of Ia Drang Val1ey; and

    Whereas, Sergeant Kittle was killed as a result of hostile action while on a search-and-destroy mission during the Battle of Ia Drang Valley. He died during the second wave of North Vietnamese attacks on November 17, 1965, at the age of twenty-five. A month later, December 24, 1965, his second son, Randall Lee Kittle, was born; and

    Whereas, Sergeant Kittle was one of nine West Virginia soldiers who died at the Battle of Ia Drang Val1ey. Being a native of Huttonsville, he was also the first Randolph County soldier to be killed in the Vietnam War. He is buried at the Old Brick Cemetery in Huttonsville along with his parents and other family members; and

    Whereas, The Battle at Ia Drang Valley set the tone for the remainder of the Vietnam War as American forces continued to rely on air mobility and heavy fire support; and

    Whereas, Sergeant Kittle was awarded the Purple Heart, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the National Defense Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Seventh Cavalry Garry Owen Patch and the Combat Infantry Badge; and

    Whereas, Sergeant Kittle’s name is listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D. C., Panel 3E, Row 82; and

    Whereas, The battle in which Sergeant Kittle died was documented in the 1965 CBS Special Report "Battle of Ia Drang Valley" and in the book "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young" by Lieutenant General Hal Moore and reporter Joseph Galloway, who was also at the battle. That book also served as the basis of the 2002 movie "We Were Soldiers" starring Mel Gibson; and

    Whereas, Two local articles also chronicled the book and movie's significance to West Virginia and the people of Randolph County. The headlines read: "Current Vietnam Film has Personal Meaning for Area Residents" in the March 9, 2002, issue of the Elkins Inter-Mountain newspaper and "We Were Solders: West Virginia Veterans Remember Battle at Ia Drang Valley" in the March 7, 2002, issue of the Charleston Gazette newspaper. They are archived at the Culture Center in Charleston and in the Wise Library in Morgantown. Sergeant Kittle’s November 22, 1965, obituary is also archived at The Elkins Inter-Mountain newspaper library (Vol. LIX No. 45); and

    Whereas, It is fitting to honor Sergeant Cecil W. Kittle, Jr., for his commitment, dedication and service to his country and to his state, having given the ultimate sacrifice; therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to name bridge number 42-43-0.16, the Becky’s Creek Bridge on Route 43 crossing over the Tygart Valley River in Huttonsville, Randolph County, the "U. S. Army Sgt. Cecil W. Kittle, Jr., Memorial Bridge”; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That 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 “U. S. Army Sgt. Cecil W. Kittle, Jr., 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 Secretary of the Department of Transportation and to Sergeant Kittle's son, Randall Lee Kittle.