PRINTER'S NO. 303
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
303
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY TOPPER, BAKER, CALTAGIRONE, CAUSER, D. COSTA, COX,
DiGIROLAMO, DOWLING, ENGLISH, FREEMAN, GABLER, HAHN,
A. HARRIS, HENNESSEY, HICKERNELL, IRVIN, JAMES, KAUFFMAN,
KINSEY, KNOWLES, KORTZ, LONGIETTI, MARSHALL, METZGAR,
MILLARD, MURT, O'NEILL, PICKETT, READSHAW, RYAN, SAINATO,
SANKEY, SOLOMON, TOEPEL, WARD AND NEILSON, FEBRUARY 3, 2017
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, FEBRUARY 3, 2017
AN ACT
Designating a bridge on that portion of State Route 1005, known
as Church View Road, Segment 0180, Offset 0000, over Beaver
Creek, South Woodbury Township, Bedford County, as the
PFC/POW William G. Koontz Memorial Bridge.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. PFC/POW William G. Koontz Memorial Bridge.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as
follows:
(1) PFC William G. Koontz of New Enterprise, was drafted
into the United States Army during the Korean War.
(2) PFC Koontz arrived in South Korea on March 25, 1951,
and along with other new arrivals was given only five days of
basic combat training before being sent to the front lines.
(3) Less than a month later on April 22, 1951, the
Soviet-backed Chinese Red Army launched a massive assault
against the United Nations and American forces. PFC Koontz
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was on the front lines that day with Company E, 24th
Division, Eighth Army.
(4) Company E's location was soon overtaken by the
Chinese and PFC Koontz along with 13 other men hid in a cave
to avoid capture. After four days without food or water, the
men were forced to surrender.
(5) PFC Koontz and his fellow soldiers were taken to a
temporary prison camp, from which they started a month-long
march north to a permanent camp in North Korea. Many of PFC
Koontz's companions did not survive the journey.
(6) For 888 days, PFC Koontz endured the brutal
conditions at the Chong-song prison camp, living in mud-
walled huts without sanitation and surviving on a diet
consisting mostly of infested grain while forced into hard
labor.
(7) On August 11, 1953, PFC Koontz was released by the
Chinese and eventually returned home to Pennsylvania, where
he reunited with his family and lived a full life with his
wife, to whom he was married for over 50 years, two sons,
grandchildren and many other relatives.
(8) For his heroism and sacrifice, PFC Koontz was
awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Theater
Ribbon, the World War II Victory Ribbon and the Army
Occupation Medal (Japan).
(b) Designation.--The bridge located on State Route 1005,
known as Church View Road, Segment 0180, Offset 0000, over
Beaver Creek, in South Woodbury Township, Bedford County, is
hereby designated the PFC/POW William G. Koontz Memorial Bridge.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the bridge to
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traffic in both directions on the bridge.
Section 2. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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