BILL REQ. #:  H-1248.2 

Read first time 02/06/2007.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     TO THE HONORABLE DOUGLAS B. MACDONALD, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION, AND TO THE WASHINGTON STATE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION, AND TO THE WASHINGTON STATE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, The Korean War erupted on June 25, 1950, when the North Korean Army invaded the Republic of South Korea; and
     WHEREAS, Three days later, President Harry S. Truman ordered United States forces to defend South Korea; and
     WHEREAS, 2.5 million men and women of our armed forces, 122,000 of which were from Washington State, met the test, fighting in harsh terrain and extremes of weather, in battles and actions the names of which reverberate fifty-four years later; and
     WHEREAS, 528 Washington State residents and 5 Clallam County residents were killed in action between 1950 and 1953, and over 40 known men had been missing in action or held as prisoners of war; and
     WHEREAS, 33,629 members of the United States armed forces lost their lives between 1950 and 1953; and
     WHEREAS, 2,000 United States service members have died as a direct result of responding to one of the 40,479 hostile incidents or breaches since the truce has been signed; and
     WHEREAS, It is appropriate to honor the service and sacrifice of Washington State Korean War Veterans who served the nation in that war with such valor and distinction;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that the Washington State Transportation Commission commence proceedings to name Highway 113 in Clallam County between the junction of Highway 101 (Sappho) and the junction of Highway 112, and Highway 112 from the junction of Highway 113 to the Makah Indian Reservation in Neah Bay the "Korean War Veteran's Blue Star Memorial Highway(s)," and to install appropriate signs on the portion of the highway(s) containing the words "Korean War Veteran's Blue Star Memorial Highway" to honor the service and sacrifices of all who served in that war.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Douglas B. MacDonald, Secretary of Transportation, the Washington State Transportation Commission, and the Washington State Department of Transportation.