May has been
designated by Congress as National Military Appreciation Month. As such,
Genealogical Gems is featuring a veteran or current member of the military each
day. Yesterday, I first heard of William "Billy" Raymond Prom when I received an email from the PA General Assembly concerning HB 349. HB349 designates the bridge located over Washington's Landing and the
Allegheny River, commonly known as the 31st Street Bridge, in Pittsburgh, as the William Raymond Prom Memorial Bridge.
Prom enlisted in the US Marine Corps reserve on 8 December 1967. He received his basic training at Parris Island in South Carolina and his combat training at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before being sent. to Vietnam in June 1968. While in Vietnam, he served as an ammunition man,
assistant gunner, machine gun team leader and a machine gun squad leader. On 1 September 1969, he was promoted to Lance Corporal.
Lance Cpl. Prom was returning from Operation Taylor Common on 9 February 1969, when his unit came under attack from the North Vietnamese Army. His platoon became separated and several Marines were wounded in the attack. Lance Cpl. Prom immediately assumed control of one of the machine guns and returned fire, disregarding his own personal safety. His actions gave the medics the time they needed to administer to the wounded men. Lance Cpl. Prom advanced, continuing to fire. His actions gave his men time to regroup. At some point during the exchange. he himself was injured. He continues to push on and fight until he was mortally wounded. His actions inspired his men to continue and launch an assault which ultimately destroyed. the enemy.
For his actions, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign. He is included on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Panel 32W, Row 2. In addition this bill - HB 349 - once passed will name the bridge commonly known as 31st Street Bridge in his hometown of Pittsburgh is now designated as the William Raymond Prom Memorial Bridge.
Prom was born in Pittsburg in 1949 to Fred Charles and Finbola Prom. He had one brother Fred Charles Prom and one sister Clara Prom. They lived in Reserve Township, where he attended the the Millville High School, where most people knew him as Butch.
He was laid to rest in the Allegheny County Memorial Park. Pittsburgh.
Young Alexander Meyer was a disturbed and angry young man with some major issues. He had failed sixth and seventh grade, and instead of having to repeat eighth grade again, he finally gave up on school. At age 16 he quit Downingtown Junior High. Meyer is not a relative, nor are his victims (that I am aware). I stumbled upon young Alex while reading Tortured Minds: Pennsylvania's Most Bizarre - But Forgotten - Murders by Tammy Mal. On 11 February 1937 Alexander Thweatt Meyer killed young Helen Moyer as she walked home from school in Coatesville along Modena Road. She was not his first. The jury was out only three minutes after hearing Dr. Michael Margolis' testimony on the death of Helen Moyer. The jury determined Meyer had murdered Moyer and should be held for first degree murder. The jury also condemned the parole system which had released Meyer back into the public, after having served just 14 months in Huntingdon Reformatory, for the murder of two other girls - Anna Blasc...
Within the Lancaster Convention Center (Lancaster, PA) is a small section dedicated to Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith. The section is known as the Stevens & Smith Historic Site. It is scheduled for development this year. At the moment one can only get a glimpse of it through the Convention Center or by peeking in from the outside. Here at Queen and Vine Streets in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania, Thaddeus Stevens had his law office. Stevens was an abolitionist. An abolitionist is a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution, especially capital punishment or (formerly) slavery. Stevens was born 4 April 1792 to Joshua Stevens and Sarah (Sally) Morrill in Danville Vermont. One of four children, he attended Vermont University from 1810 to 1812 when the War prompted its closure. He then went to Dartmouth, where he graduated in 1814. He then studied law and found himself set up in Gettysburg, PA in 1816. He practiced law there until 1828 when he...
The Act passed on 15 May 2013. HB349 will be known as William Raymond Prom Memorial Bridge.
ReplyDelete