HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 37
(By Delegates Hanshaw (Mr. Speaker) and D. Smith)
[Introduced February 17, 2025; Referred to the committee on Energy and Public Works then Rules. ] ]
Requesting the Division of Highways name bridge number 50-064/00-001.75 carrying Interstate 64 over Broad Hollow Road in Wayne County, the "CPT Ray Leslie Memorial Bridge."
Whereas, Ray Leslie was born on December 7, 1922, in Boyd County, Kentucky, and was the son of Wade Hampton Leslie and Hattie James Leslie; and
Whereas, Ray Leslie was drafted as a Private in the U.S. Army in April, 1943; and
Whereas, Ray Leslie successfully completed Basic Training at Camp Haan, California, was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, and was assigned to the 120th Mobile Anti-Aircraft Gun Battalion; and
Whereas, Ray Leslie was shipped from the United States to Camp Blandford, England aboard the Queen Mary in Late November 1943 in preparation of the Allied Forces impending invasion of Fortress Europe; and
Whereas, on June 10, 1944, SGT Leslie landed on Utah Beach as part of the Fourth Infantry Division and was immediately ordered into combat to seize the French town of St. Lo; and
Whereas, in August 1944, SGT Leslie received a battlefield commission as a Second Lieutenant and was transferred to 317th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division (The Blue Ridgers), which was comprised mainly of soldiers from Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania in General George S. Patton’s Third Army; and
Whereas, LT Leslie would continue to fight at the Falaise Gap in August 1944. On September 5, 1944, LT Leslie’s unit was the first to attack by boat across the Moselle River and later that month drove German forces from the town of Nancy, France. LT Leslie helped capture the fortress of Metz, which was the first time in history that fortress had ever fallen to an assault. LT Leslie continued to serve in the 317th as it raced to relieve the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne, and then across the Rhine on March 27, 1945, into Germany. On VE Day, Leslie’s unit was at the River Enns, Austria, the farthest east of any U. S. Army unit in Europe, where it linked up with units of the Red Army on May 11, 1945; and
Whereas, Among other awards, LT Leslie would receive his Combat Infantryman’s Badge and a European Theater of Operations Service Ribbon with four campaign stars having seen over 267 days of actual combat between June 1944 and May 1945. He would later be awarded France’s highest honor, the Légion d’honneur for his actions in combat during the Normandy campaign; and
Whereas, Upon return from Europe in 1947, LT Leslie retired from U.S. Army and moved to Ceredo, West Virginia; and
Whereas, LT Leslie would join the Kentucky National Guard where he was promoted to the rank of Captain, in which he served until the end of the Korean Conflict; and
Whereas CPT Leslie resided in Ceredo, West Virginia, where he lived peacefully with his wife, Jo, raised his daughter, Nancy, owned Leslie’s Restaurant with his parents and his brother, Robert Leslie, Sr., and rarely spoke of his experiences in combat; and
Whereas, CPT Leslie died in Ceredo, West Virginia on February 4, 2018; and
Whereas, It is fitting that an enduring memorial be established to commemorate U.S. Army CPT Ray Leslie and honoring his life and his contributions to our state and country; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to name 50-064/00-001.75 locally known as Broad Hollow Road Overpass, carrying Interstate 64 over Broad Hollow Road in Wayne County, the "CPT Ray Leslie Memorial Bridge"; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to have made and be placed signs at both ends identifying the portion of road as the "CPT Ray Leslie Memorial Bridge"; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates forward a copy of this resolution to the Commissioner of the Division of Highways.