SCR 72, as introduced, Padilla. David M. Gonzales Medal of Honor World War II Memorial Interchange.
This measure would designate the interchange of State Highway Route 5 and State Highway Route 118 in the City of Los Angeles as the David M. Gonzales Medal of Honor World War II Memorial Interchange.
The measure would request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
Fiscal committee: yes.
P1 1WHEREAS, David M. Gonzales, Private First Class (PFC),
2United States Army, was born on June 9, 1923 in East Los Angeles
3and raised in Pacoima, California; and
4WHEREAS, David M. Gonzales joined the Army during World
5War II on March 31, 1944, at Fort MacArthur, and was deployed
6to the Philippines as an infantry replacement in December 1944;
7and
P2 1WHEREAS, PFC Gonzales’ heroic service on the Villa Verde
2Trail in Luzon, Philippines, on April 25, 1945, earned him,
3posthumously, the Congressional Medal of Honor; and
4WHEREAS, On April 25, 1945, PFC Gonzales and his unit,
5Company A, 127th Infantry, 32nd Division, were pinned down by
6enemy fire when a 500-pound bomb exploded in the company’s
7perimeter, burying five men of Company A; and
8WHEREAS, Without hesitation, PFC Gonzales seized an
9entrenching tool, and, under a hail of fire, crawled 15 yards to his
10 entombed comrades, while his commanding officer, who also
11rushed forward to help, was struck and instantly killed by machine
12gun fire; and
13WHEREAS, Undismayed, PFC Gonzales set to work swiftly
14with the entrenching tool, and continued to dig out the five trapped
15men, while enemy sniper fire and machine gun bullets struck him;
16and
17WHEREAS, After PFC Gonzales had successfully freed one of
18the men, he stood up to be able to dig faster, despite the fact that
19such a position exposed him to greater danger, and while he
20successfully freed another man, PFC Gonzales was mortally
21wounded by enemy fire as he finished liberating the third trapped
22man; and
23WHEREAS, In the words of President Harry Truman, “Private
24Gonzales’ valiant and intrepid conduct exemplified the highest
25tradition of the military service”; and
26WHEREAS, The other two buried soldiers were later saved
27when the intense enemy fire subsided; and
28WHEREAS, PFC Gonzales was killed on April 25, 1945, while
29serving our country and saving the lives of his comrades on the
30field of battle during World War II; and
31WHEREAS, PFC Gonzales was survived by his then 25-year-old
32widow, Mrs. Steffanie Gonzales, his one-year-old son, David
33Gonzales, Jr., and his mother, Mrs. Rita Gonzales Duarte; and
34WHEREAS, It is appropriate to memorialize the sacrifice made
35by PFC Gonzales and to honor his valiant and intrepid service to
36the people of the United States by designating the interchange of
37State Highway Route 5 and State Highway Route 118 in the City
38of Los Angeles as the David M. Gonzales Medal of Honor World
39War II Memorial Interchange; now, therefore, be it
P3 1Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
2thereof concurring, That the interchange of State Highway Route
35 and State Highway Route 118 in the City of Los Angeles is
4hereby designated as the David M. Gonzales Medal of Honor
5World War II Memorial Interchange; and be it further
6Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested
7to determine the cost of appropriate signs, consistent with the
8signing requirements for the state highway system, showing this
9special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
10sources sufficient to cover that cost, to erect those signs; and be it
11further
12Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
13this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author
14for appropriate distribution.
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