Section 30. 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 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 in Beaver County is designated as the Colonel Joseph H. Thompson Memorial Bridge.
(c) Signs.--The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission shall erect and maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the bridge to traffic in both directions on the bridge.