THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE BILL

INTRODUCED BY BLAKE, MENSCH, ORIE, BAKER, FONTANA, TARTAGLIONE, McILHINNEY, M. WHITE, COSTA, HUGHES, SCHWANK, GREENLEAF, BOSCOLA, PIPPY, SOLOBAY, BREWSTER, BRUBAKER, ALLOWAY, FERLO AND BROWNE, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011  

AN ACT

Redesignating Davis Street Bridge, over Interstate 81 at Exit

182, Moosic Borough, Lackawanna County, as the Andrew A.

Pompey and Durando J. Pompey Memorial Bridge.

WHEREAS, Andrew A. Pompey was the oldest son of Louis and

Regina Parlanti, born on May 1, 1917, in Minooka; and

WHEREAS, He volunteered for service in the United States Army

days after Pearl Harbor was inducted on February 7, 1942; and

WHEREAS, After basic training, he volunteered for a new

branch of the service, the parachute infantry; and

WHEREAS, He became part of the first parachute division in

United States Army history, the 82nd Airborne, and was assigned

to its first regiment, 504th PIR, nicknamed the "devils in baggy

pants" from a German officer's diary; and

WHEREAS, After parachute training, he and the rest of the

82nd Airborne were shipped to North Africa; and

WHEREAS, He participated in two combat jumps in active

combat, first in Sicily, Italy, where his plane was hit by

friendly fire, and next at Salerno, Italy, where he assisted in

saving the Allied beachhead, and he was promoted to the rank of

staff sergeant; and

WHEREAS, On January 26, 1944, Staff Sergeant Andrew A. Pompey

led his squad on an assault of a bridge spanning the Mussolini

Canal near Sassano, Italy, and was killed by artillery; and

WHEREAS, Initially, he was buried at the American Cemetery at

Nettuno, Italy; and

WHEREAS, Later, he was exhumed and reinterred at the Italian-

American Cemetery adjacent to Davis Street, Scranton, near the

Davis Street Bridge; and

WHEREAS, Durando J. Pompey was born on September 1, 1921, to

Louis and Regina Parlanti Pompey in Minooka; and

WHEREAS, He also volunteered for the United States Army and

was inducted on September 7, 1942; and

WHEREAS, After basic training, he married Helen Rovinski on

May 3, 1943; and

WHEREAS, In February 1944, he was shipped to England in

anticipation of the invasion of Europe; and

WHEREAS, He landed with his division on June 8, 1944, on

Omaha Beach; and

WHEREAS, Shortly after landing on Omaha Beach, the division

went on attack through the French hedgerows toward Pont Hebert

and St. Lo; and

WHEREAS, On July 13, 1944, the Germans preceded a

counterattack with a concentrated artillery barrage, and Private

First Class Durando J. Pompey was killed in that barrage; and

WHEREAS, He was initially buried in Le Combe Cemetery in

France and later exhumed at the request of his wife and

reinterred in the American Cemetery in Long Island, New York.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Andrew A. Pompey and Durando J. Pompey Memorial

Bridge.

(a)  Redesignation.--The Davis Street Bridge, over Interstate

81 at Exit 182, Moosic Borough, Lackawanna County, is

redesignated as the Andrew A. Pompey and Durando J. Pompey

Memorial Bridge.

(b)  Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and

maintain appropriate road signs displaying the name of the

bridge to traffic in both directions on the bridge.

Section 2.  Effective Date.

This act shall take effect in 60 days.