Section 40. Sergeant John Harold Branic Memorial Bridge.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) John Harold Branic was born April 4, 1916, in Madera, Clearfield County.
(2) Sergeant Branic enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at the start of World War II after graduating high school and was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines.
(3) On August 18, 1942, the Marines from L Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines began a combat patrol on Guadalcanal that became known as Matanikau One.
(4) The Marines probed six miles westward to the Matanikau River where, on August 19, 1942, the Japanese spotted the Marines atop Hill 73 and directed mortars and small arms fire against them.
(5) During this attack, Sergeant Branic was killed, but the Marines counterattacked and succeeded in driving the Japanese back.
(6) The location of Sergeant Branic's remains were not reported to headquarters, as the L Company executive officer was also killed during the action.
(7) On August 19, 1942, Sergeant Branic was officially declared dead and earned the Purple Heart posthumously, although his body was never recovered and he was officially listed as missing in action.
(8) Sergeant Branic was memorialized at Manila American Cemetery on the Tablets of the Missing.
(9) In 1992, work commenced at the Guadalcanal Memorial on the Skyline Ridge atop Hill 73 and, during the excavation, the remains of a marine were found with a ring with the initials J.H.B. on the band.
(10) The remains were recovered and transported to Hawaii where, in 2004, an American researcher with the First Marine Division Association reported that a Solomon Islander had possession of the ring with the inscription J.H.B.
(11) Joint POW/MIA Accounting Agency scientists and Armed Forces DNA Identification specialists used mitochondrial DNA to identify the remains of Sergeant Branic and he was no longer considered missing in action.
(12) Sergeant Branic was the first Madera resident to be killed during World War II.
(13) On August 9, 2006, Sergeant Branic was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.
(b) Designation.--The bridge, identified as Bridge Key 11226, carrying Pennsylvania Route 53 over the Clearfield Creek in Bigler Township, Clearfield County, is designated the Sergeant John Harold Branic Memorial Bridge.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the bridge to traffic in both directions on the bridge.