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TO REQUEST THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NAME THE INTERCHANGE LOCATED AT EXIT 21 ALONG INTERSTATE HIGHWAY 95 IN JASPER COUNTY "GENERAL LLOYD W. 'FIG' NEWTON INTERCHANGE" AND ERECT APPROPRIATE MARKERS OR SIGNS AT THIS INTERCHANGE THAT CONTAIN THE WORDS "GENERAL LLOYD W. 'FIG' NEWTON INTERCHANGE".
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly take great pride in commending members of the United States Armed Forces who serve this great nation with valor and distinction; and
Whereas, born on Christmas Eve, 1942, General Lloyd W. "Fig" Newton, United States Air Force Retired, rose from his humble beginnings in Ridgeland to become a military legend; and
Whereas, he graduated from Jasper High School and earned a bachelor of science in aviation education from Tennessee State University, where he was commissioned as a distinguished graduate through the Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1966; and
Whereas, after General Newton completed pilot training at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona in 1967, he flew two hundred sixty-nine combat missions from Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, including seventy-nine missions over North Vietnam; and
Whereas, in 1974, he became the first African American selected to join the United States Air Force's elite Aerial Demonstration Squadron, known as the Thunderbirds; and
Whereas, General Newton served as an Air Force congressional liaison officer with the United States House of Representatives from 1978 to 1982, and later he earned a master of arts in public administration from George Washington University in 1985; and
Whereas, a command pilot with more than four thousand flying hours, General Newton has commanded three wings and an air division and has held numerous staff positions; and
Whereas, through meritorious and rapid promotions, he served his nation in a highly decorated career and earned the rank of general officer, four stars, the highest military rank in the United States Air Force, in 1997; and
Whereas, after his retirement from the United States Air Force in 2000, General Newton continued to serve his country as a member of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission and on the Commission on White House Fellowships; and
Whereas, the members of the South Carolina General Assembly are grateful for the distinguished military career of General Lloyd W. "Fig" Newton and for the recognition he has brought to his hometown of Ridgeland and to this great State; and
Whereas, it would be fitting and proper to name an interchange along Interstate Highway 95 to honor this great son of South Carolina. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Representatives concurring:
That the members of the General Assembly request that the Department of Transportation name the interchange located at Exit 21 along Interstate Highway 95 in Jasper County "General Lloyd W. 'Fig' Newton Interchange" and erect appropriate markers or signs at this interchange that contain the words "General Lloyd W. 'Fig' Newton Interchange".
Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Department of Transportation.
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