Bill Text: PA HB2018 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Designating the bridge crossing the Lackawanna River along 8th Avenue, also known as U.S. Business Route 6, in downtown Carbondale, Lackawanna County, as the 109th Infantry Bridge.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-06-11 - Referred to TRANSPORTATION [HB2018 Detail]

Download: Pennsylvania-2011-HB2018-Introduced.html

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PRINTER'S NO. 2773
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 2018 Session of2011
INTRODUCED BY KAVULICH, BOBACK, K. BOYLE, BRADFORD, BRENNAN, BROOKS, CALTAGIRONE, CAUSER, COX, CUTLER, DALEY, DENLINGER, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, ELLIS, FABRIZIO, FARRY, FLECK, GEORGE, GILLEN, GOODMAN, HALUSKA, HEFFLEY, HORNAMAN, KULA, MAHONEY, MAJOR, MARSICO, MILLARD, MULLERY, MURPHY, QUINN, READSHAW, ROCK, SCAVELLO, SONNEY, STERN, SWANGER, VULAKOVICH AND YOUNGBLOOD, NOVEMBER 17, 2011
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, NOVEMBER 17, 2011
AN ACT
Designating the bridge crossing the Lackawanna River along 8th
Avenue, also known as U.S. Business Route 6, in downtown
Carbondale, Lackawanna County, as the 109th Infantry Bridge.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. 109th Infantry Bridge.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as
follows:
(1) The 109th Infantry Regiment constitutes one of four
regiments in the 55th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 28th
Infantry Division. Units of this Brigade date back to the
American Revolution and were engaged in all the wars of this
nation.
(2) The 109th Infantry trace their origins to the
Scranton City Guards Battalion, National Guard of
Pennsylvania, which was constituted and organized on August
14, 1877. It was redesignated on September 23, 1878, as the
13th Infantry Regiment. The unit was mustered into Federal
Service on May 12 and 13, 1898, at Mount Gretna, Pennsylvania
as the 13th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment for the
Spanish American War. The unit did not serve outside the
continental United States. It was mustered out of Federal
service on March 11, 1899, at Augusta, Georgia.
(3) On September 26, 1916, the unit was mustered into
Federal service at Mount Gretna for service on the Mexican
border and was stationed at Camp Stewart, El Paso, Texas. As
border patrol operations began to close, the unit continued
in Federal service as the United States entered World War I.
The unit was drafted into Federal service on August 5, 1917.
The unit was consolidated with the 1st Infantry Regiment,
which was organized in 1777 and it was reorganized and
redesignated as the 109th Infantry Regiment, an element of
the 28th Division. The unit was mustered out of Federal
service from May 17 through 20, 1919, at Camp Dix, New
Jersey, and returned to the Commonwealth's control.
(4) The soldiers of the 109th Infantry Regiment earned
the nickname "Men of Iron" for the three-day defense against
overwhelming odds during the German Army's Champagne-Marne
Offensive when the 109th Infantry Regiment was attacked by
the German 36th Division. A later German after-action report
described the battle as "the most severe defeat of the war."
The unit received campaign participation credit for the
following: Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne, Meuse-
Argonne, Champagne 1918 and Lorraine 1918. The regiment had
suffered more than 100% casualties from the time it began
service in Europe until the signing of the Armistice on
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November 11, 1918. Fighting was so fierce in some battles
that in one case, an entire battalion was left in command of
a sergeant. The red "Keystone," the symbol of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, became the patch of the 28th
Division. It was the second official unit patch recognized by
the War Department, even though the symbol of the red
keystone has been worn on the uniforms of Pennsylvania
soldiers since the 1870s.
(5) Ten months before the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl
Harbor, the 28th Division, including the 109th Infantry
Regiment, received orders into Federal service. After the
United States entered World War II, the division trained
extensively in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Florida, England and
Wales. The 109th became a Regimental Combat Team. It landed
in France after D-Day and fought through Normandy, helped
liberate Paris and battled through the Hurtgen Forest of
Germany. Elements of the Regiment led the Division into the
Rhineland to become the first troops to invade German soil
since Napoleon and became bitterly engaged in the "West Wall"
of Germany. The 109th Infantry paid with human life and blood
as they received the following battle honors: Normandy,
Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace and Central
Europe. They also received the following decorations from
foreign governments: the French Croix de Guerre with Palm,
streamer embroidered "COLMAR" and the Luxembourg Croix de
Guerre, streamer embroidered "LUXEMBOURG."
(6) The most noteworthy of the 109th Infantry's
achievements during World War II came while the Regiment
rested in the Ardennes sector, considered a "quiet" area
early in December 1944. At that time, the German General Von
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Rundstedt launched the vicious, well-planned battle which
became known as the Battle of the Bulge. For eleven days the
109th Regimental Combat Team had frustrated the offensive
efforts of the German 5th Parachute Division and the 352nd VG
Division to seize key terrain and establish a firm southern
defense line for the main offensive thrust to seize Antwerp.
By December 23, 1944, the 915th Volksgrenadier Regiment,
352nd Volksgrenadier (VG) Division, the major foe, had been
eliminated by the 109th Regimental Combat Team as a combat
organization. Elements of the 914th and 916th Volksgrenadier
Regiments also suffered sizeable losses. By December 25,
1944, except for the 2nd Battalion, the men of the 109th
Infantry began to push back north across the Sure River which
they had slowly been pushed through the previous eleven days.
They had suffered 1,174 casualties in the battle in just the
month of December, almost 40% of their effective strength.
(7) Those of the 109th Infantry also underwent
mobilization for the Korean War with the 28th Infantry
Division, Pennsylvania National Guard, as it reinforced NATO
in Germany in 1950. Several Pennsylvania units saw active
service in Korea. Additionally, from September 2002 until
March 2003, the unit was mobilized in support of Operation
Joint Forge in Bosnia-Herzegovina. On January 4, 2005, the
battalion mobilized again and was assigned to the 2nd Brigade
Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division (Mechanized) which
deployed in June 2005 to Al Anbar Province, Iraq, in support
of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
(8) Since that time, the 109th Infantry has provided
assistance to local residents of northeastern Pennsylvania
during times of flooding and other natural disasters.
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Additionally, those in the Regiment continue their job of
maintaining their equipment and training for needed future
service. Among those who serve at the 109th Infantry
Headquarters in Scranton are residents of Carbondale,
Berwick, East Stroudsburg, Honesdale, Milton, Williamsport
and other areas of Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Wayne, Pike,
Lycoming and other northeastern Pennsylvania counties. All of
these who serve do so for all of the people of Pennsylvania
and the nation and stand proud with the military readiness
entrusted them according to the Regiment's motto, "CIVES ARMA
FERANT: Let the Citizens Bear Arms."
(b) Designation.--Because of the great history, sacrifice
and commitment of those who have served in the 109th Infantry
Regiment, the bridge crossing the Lackawanna River along 8th
Avenue, also known as U.S. Business Route 6, in downtown
Carbondale, Lackawanna County, is hereby designated the 109th
Infantry Bridge.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the names of the bridge to
traffic in both directions on the bridge with the infantry's
motto "CIVES ARMA FERANT: Let the Citizens Bear Arms" showing on
the sign. Additionally, the department shall work with officials
of the City of Carbondale and local residents on properly
installing the 109th Infantry Regimental Crest with its motto
"CIVES ARMA FERANT: Let the Citizens Bear Arms" on the bridge in
the future.
Section 2. Effective Date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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