PRINTER'S NO. 3120
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2305
Session of
2024
INTRODUCED BY MARSHALL, MAY 20, 2024
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, MAY 20, 2024
AN ACT
Designating a bridge carrying the Pennsylvania Turnpike Mainline
Eastbound over the Beaver River at mile marker 13.2 as the
Colonel Joseph H. Thompson Memorial Bridge.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Colonel Joseph H. Thompson Memorial Bridge.
(a) Finding.--The General Assembly finds and declares as
follows:
(1) Joseph H. Thompson was born September 26, 1871, in
Kilkeel, County Down, Ireland.
(2) Colonel Thompson graduated from Geneva College in
1904 and earned a second bachelor's degree from the
University of Pittsburgh in 1905 and then a law degree from
the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1909.
(3) Colonel Thompson was the University of Pittsburgh
football coach from 1908 to 1912 and helped facilitate the
implementation of the first known use of numbers on uniforms.
(4) In 1905, Colonel Thompson enlisted in the
Pennsylvania National Guard and during this time, he served
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as a Pennsylvania State Senator from 1913 to 1916 for Beaver
and Lawrence Counties.
(5) In 1918, Colonel Thompson was promoted to the rank
of Colonel and served in World War I, where he was wounded
four times and gassed once.
(6) For his bravery, Colonel Thompson was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross on October 1, 1918, however, this
award was updated to the Medal of Honor on October 5, 1925.
(7) The four wounds that Colonel Thompson received
entitled him to wear four wound chevrons, which was the
precursor to the Purple Heart, reestablished by the United
States President in 1932.
(8) Colonel Thompson survived the war and died at 57
years of age on February 1, 1928, in Beaver Falls, Beaver
County, from ailments aggravated by his war wounds.
(b) Designation.--The bridge carrying the Pennsylvania
Turnpike Mainline Eastbound over the Beaver River at mile marker
13.2 is designated as the Colonel Joseph H. Thompson Memorial
Bridge.
(c) Signs.--The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission shall erect
appropriate signs displaying the name of the bridge to traffic
on the bridge.
Section 2. Effective date.
This act shall take effect January 1, 2027.
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