BILL NUMBER: SCR 41 CHAPTERED 09/09/94 BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 131 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 9, 1994 ADOPTED IN SENATE AUGUST 23, 1994 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 1994 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 16, 1994 INTRODUCED BY Senator Roberti APRIL 4, 1994 Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 41 Relative to highways. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SCR 41, Roberti. Sadao S. Munemori Memorial Freeway Interchange and Korean War Veterans' Memorial Highway. This measure would designate the freeway interchange between Interstate Highway Route 105 and Interstate Highway Route 405 the Sadao S. Munemori Memorial Freeway Interchange and the portion of State Highway Route 126 between the City of Santa Paula and Interstate Highway Route 5 the Korean War Veterans' Memorial Highway. The measure would also direct the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate plaques and markers showing these special designations and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect appropriate plaques and markers. WHEREAS, Sadao S. Munemori, an American of Japanese ancestry, enlisted for service in the United States Army at the age of 19; and WHEREAS, Private Munemori was assigned to the 100th Infantry Battalion, a unit composed mainly of Japanese-Americans from Hawaii; and WHEREAS, The 100th Battalion later became part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most highly decorated unit of World War II for its size and time in combat; and WHEREAS, While his family was confined at Manzanar, an internment camp for "enemy aliens" located in the Owens Valley of California, Private Munemori trained with the 100th Battalion at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and, in 1943, was shipped with the unit to North Africa; and WHEREAS, As a member of "A" Company, Private Munemori was transferred to Italy, landing at Salerno on September 26; and WHEREAS, From the moment the 100th Battalion reached Europe, it was continually in the thick of combat; and WHEREAS, The unit continued to push its way through Italy until ordered to France, arriving in Marseilles in September 1944; and WHEREAS, Near the town of Bruyeres, France, the 100th Battalion, as part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, fought its signature battle when it was ordered to rescue "at any cost" a battalion of the 36th Division of the Texas National Guard, known as the "Lost Battalion," and succeeded while paying a grave price: approximately 161 dead, 43 missing, and 2,000 wounded; and WHEREAS, In March 1945, Private Munemori and "A" Company were ordered back to Northern Italy to join forces in the final push against the Gustav Line, a fortified German position that had held up the Allied advance for more than four months; and WHEREAS, On April 5, 1945, "A" Company came under murderous fire, and its commander, Lt. David Novack, and squad leader, Staff Sgt. Kei Yamaguchi, were severely wounded; and WHEREAS, Without hesitation, Private Munemori took command and single handedly, using grenades, knocked out two enemy machine guns; and WHEREAS, Private Munemori gave his life to save two of his comrades when he used his own body to shield them from an exploding enemy grenade; and WHEREAS, Private Munemori's ultimate act of heroism not only saved the lives of his comrades, but did much to clear the path for his company's advance; and WHEREAS, On March 7, 1946, Private First Class Sadao S. Munemori was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman; and WHEREAS, These acts of heroism during World War II were followed by countless acts of heroism by all Californians who later served so admirably in the armed services of the United States during the Korean War and who are equally deserving of our continuing recognition; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the freeway interchange between Interstate Highway Route 105 and Interstate Highway Route 405 be designated the Sadao S. Munemori Memorial Freeway Interchange and that the portion of State Highway Route 126 between the City of Santa Paula and Interstate Highway 5 be designated the Korean War Veterans' Memorial Highway; and be it further Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is directed to determine the cost of appropriate plaques and markers, consistent with signing requirements for the state highway system, showing these official designations and, upon receiving donations from private sources covering those costs, to erect those plaques and markers; and be it further Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit a copy of this resolution to the Director of Transportation, and suitably prepared copies to the Nisei Veterans Association of Southern California and the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the Japanese-American Citizen's League.