H1602B2120A04311 MSP:JMT 10/23/17 #90 A04311
AMENDMENTS TO HOUSE BILL NO. 1602
Sponsor: SENATOR SABATINA
Printer's No. 2120
Amend Bill, page 1, line 4, by striking out the period after
"Bridge" and inserting
; designating a bridge to be constructed on that portion of
State Route 119 over the Pine Run Creek, Rayne Township,
Indiana County, as the PFC Frank Enzer Weiss United States
Marine Corps Bridge; designating the bridge on State Route
125 before Ridge Road in Pitman, Schuylkill County, as the
Abner Yoder Memorial Bridge; designating a portion of State
Route 562 in Berks County as the General Carl A. Spaatz
Memorial Highway; and designating portions of Interstate
Route 176 in New Morgan Borough, Caernarvon Township, Robeson
Township and Cumru Township, Berks County, as the Vietnam War
Veterans Memorial Highway, the Persian Gulf War Veterans
Memorial Highway and the Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans
Memorial Highway.
Amend Bill, page 2, by inserting between lines 13 and 14
Section 2. PFC Frank Enzer Weiss United States Marine Corps
Bridge.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as
follows:
(1) PFC Frank Enzer Weiss, a native of Tanoma, served in
the United States Marine Corps G Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th
Marines, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force.
(2) On March 18, 1968, PFC Weiss, 19 years of age, was
killed in action by hostile fire in Quang Tri Province, South
Vietnam.
(3) PFC Weiss was awarded the Purple Heart, National
Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal and Vietnam
Service Medal.
(b) Designation.--The bridge to be constructed on State
Route 119 over the Pine Run Creek in Rayne Township, Indiana
County, is designated as the PFC Frank Enzer Weiss United States
Marine Corps Bridge.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the bridge to
traffic in both directions on the bridge.
Section 3. Abner Yoder Memorial Bridge.
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(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as
follows:
(1) Abner Yoder graduated from Hegins High School in
1936, was active in his local church and played on the
Pitman's Farmers baseball team.
(2) On July 18, 1941, he joined the United States Army
Air Corps and rose to the level of Technical Sergeant by
August of 1943.
(3) During his time in the Air Corps, he traveled to
Australia, where he met his fiancée and joined a combat crew
which flew missions on a B-52.
(4) On February 17, 1944, the plane he was on with his
crew had engine troubles and attempted to return to the base
but stalled and crashed. The entire crew, including Abner
Yoder, was killed in the plane crash.
(5) Abner Yoder was 26 at the time of his death and he
was buried at the Manila American Cemetery in Manila, near
other fallen members of the Armed Forces.
(b) Designation.--The bridge on State Route 125 before Ridge
Road in Pitman, Schuylkill County, is designated as the Abner
Yoder Memorial Bridge.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the bridge to
traffic in both directions on the bridge.
Section 4. General Carl A. Spaatz Memorial Highway.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as
follows:
(1) Carl Andrew "Tooey" Spaatz was born in Boyertown,
Berks County, on June 28, 1891.
(2) Drawn to aviation, after graduating from West Point
in 1914 and being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the
infantry, Mr. Spaatz studied at the Aviation School at San
Diego, California.
(3) Mr. Spaatz served with the 1st Aero Squadron as a
first lieutenant under General John "Black Jack" Pershing
during the Punitive Expedition into Mexico.
(4) After being promoted to captain in May 1917, Mr.
Spaatz served in France with the American Expeditionary
Forces during World War I and, as a fighter pilot, shot down
three German Fokker planes behind enemy lines, which earned
him the Distinguished Service Cross.
(5) Mr. Spaatz was promoted to major on July 1, 1920,
and during the interwar years he proceeded up the ranks of a
peacetime Air Corps.
(6) Mr. Spaatz was awarded the Distinguished Flying
Cross for commanding the refueling endurance flight of the
Question Mark plane from January 1 through 7, 1929, during
which the plane broke a record for sustained flight.
(7) After the United States entered into World War II,
in 1942, Mr. Spaatz was named chief of the Air Force Combat
Command and was sent to England to initiate the planning
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stages for the United States Army Air Forces in Europe.
(8) Later in 1942, Mr. Spaatz was named commander of the
United States Army Air Forces in Europe.
(9) In 1943, Mr. Spaatz commanded the Twelfth Air Force
in North Africa where his forces played a pivotal role in
reducing Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps.
(10) In 1944, Mr. Spaatz returned to England and was
named the commanding general of the United States Strategic
Air Forces in Europe.
(11) In this role, Mr. Spaatz played a key role in
Operation Overlord, more commonly known as D-Day, by
directing the Allied aerial attacks covering the landings on
the beaches of Normandy.
(12) Mr. Spaatz also commanded the strategic bombing of
Germany.
(13) On March 11, 1945, Mr. Spaatz received a temporary
promotion to general and later was named commander of the
United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific where he
supervised the final strategic bombings of Japan, including
two atomic bomb missions.
(13) Mr. Spaatz was the only man of general rank or
equivalent to attend all three surrender ceremonies that
ended World War II.
(14) In 1946, Mr. Spaatz was named commander-in-chief of
the Army Air Forces, and in 1947 he was named the first chief
of staff of the newly independent United States Air Force.
(15) Mr. Spaatz retired from military service in 1948
and passed away on July 14, 1974.
(b) Designation.--The portion of State Route 562 in Berks
County from the intersection with State Route 73 in the Borough
of Boyertown to the intersection with State Route 662 at the
township line between Amity Township and Oley Township is
designated as the General Carl A. Spaatz Memorial Highway.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the highway to
traffic in both directions on the highway.
Section 5. Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Highway.
(a) Designation.--The section of Interstate Route 176 in New
Morgan Borough, Caernarvon Township, Berks County, from the
Morgantown Interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike at mile
marker 0.4 to mile marker 3.7 is designated as the Vietnam War
Veterans Memorial Highway.
(b) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the highway to
traffic in both directions on the highway.
Section 6. Persian Gulf War Veterans Memorial Highway.
(a) Designation.--The section of Interstate Route 176 in
Robeson Township, Berks County, from mile marker 3.7 to mile
marker 7.0 is designated as the Persian Gulf War Veterans
Memorial Highway.
(b) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
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maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the highway to
traffic in both directions on the highway.
Section 7. Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Memorial Highway.
(a) Designation.--The section of Interstate Route 176 in
Robeson Township and Cumru Township, Berks County, from mile
marker 7.0 in Robeson Township to mile marker 10.3 at or near
the intersection of U.S. Route 422 in Cumru Township is
designated as the Iraq and Afghanistan War Veterans Memorial
Highway.
(b) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the highway to
traffic in both directions on the highway.
Amend Bill, page 2, line 14, by striking out "2" and
inserting
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