08 LC 38
0624
Senate
Resolution 1029
By:
Senators Hooks of the 14th and Staton of the 18th
A
RESOLUTION
Commending
Sergeant William Morgan Callahan and dedicating a bridge in his honor; and for
other purposes.
WHEREAS,
Sergeant Callahan was born on March 17, 1919, in Taylor County, Georgia to
William and Jewell Callahan; and
WHEREAS,
Sergeant Callahan graduated from Butler High School and continued his education
at Georgia Southwestern College and the University of Georgia Cotton
Classification School; and
WHEREAS,
he was drafted in 1941, entered the Army, and was assigned to U.S. Army Air
Corps, where he was trained as an air traffic controller and stationed at Pacos
Army Air Field in Texas; and
WHEREAS,
as World War II came to a close Sergeant Callahan was shipped to Madison,
Wisconsin to be discharged, and as was the custom there, while waiting for their
official discharge soldiers were permitted to go into town each day and earn
extra income; on one such day Sergeant Callahan took a construction job and
while more than 13 floors up, an act of God caused a gust of wind that blew a
sheet of plywood into Sergeant Callahan causing him to fall over the edge of the
building to his death; and
WHEREAS,
Sergeant Callahan was in uniform and still a soldier in the Army at the time of
his accident, and he is believed to be the only fatal casualty in south Taylor
County during World War II.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY that the members of this body
honor the life and the service of Sergeant William Morgan Callahan.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the bridge over the CSX Railroad located in Rupert,
Taylor County, Georgia, between mile markers North 5.3 and South 5.2 on US 19/SR
3 be named in his honor.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the family of Sergeant
William Morgan Callahan and to the Department of Transportation.