Section 1. Corporal Brandon Hardy Memorial Highway.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds that:
(1) Brandon Michael Hardy, born March 8, 1981, was a resident of Cochranville, Chester County, and was the oldest of four children.
(2) Corporal Hardy graduated from Octorara High School in 1999 and enrolled at CAT-Brandywine Vocational Technical School in the culinary arts program and was awarded the Outstanding Culinary Arts Co-Op Student Award.
(3) After seeing news coverage of Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Corporal Hardy was inspired to join the military and later decided to join the United States Air Force in 1999.
(4) Corporal Hardy was stationed in Germany for two years and served three years at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington.
(5) While serving at these duty stations, Corporal Hardy was deployed three times to the Middle East, serving in Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
(6) In an extraordinary move, Corporal Hardy decided to forgo his rank and pay to basically start over and enlist as a member of the United States Marine Corps.
(7) After advanced infantry training, Corporal Hardy moved on to Camp Pendleton where he graduated at the top of the class at the Assault Amphibian Training School, serving as crew chief of an assault amphibian vehicle assigned to the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.
(8) Corporal Hardy was deployed to Iraq on March 27, 2006.
(9) On April 28, 2006, in the early morning hours, at the Haditha Dam area in Anbar Province, Iraq, Corporal Hardy was returning to base camp after an aid and assist mission when the vehicle in which he was a passenger struck an IED.
(10) Three of the five passengers of the Humvee were mortally wounded, including Corporal Hardy, who was killed in action.
(11) As a member of the United States Marine Corps, Corporal Hardy received the following awards:
(i) Purple Heart.
(ii) Combat Action Ribbon.
(iii) Good Conduct Medal.
(iv) National Defense Service Medal.
(v) Iraq Campaign Medal.
(vi) Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
(vii) Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
(viii) Hawaiian Medal of Honor by the State of Hawaii.
(b) Designation.--The portion of Pennsylvania Route 41 (Gap Newport Pike) from the intersection with Bernard Avenue to the intersection with Highland Road in West Fallowfield Township, Chester County, is designated as the Corporal Brandon Hardy Memorial Highway.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the highway to traffic in both directions on the highway.