2009-2010 Bill 3979: Lieutenant Colonel Spann Watson - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 118th Session, 2009-2010 3 4 H. 3979 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 House Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. Harrell, Agnew, Alexander, Allen, Allison, Anderson, Anthony, Bales, Ballentine, 10 Bannister, Barfield, Battle, Bedingfield, Bingham, Bowen, Bowers, Brady, Branham, Brantley, 11 G.A. Brown, H.B. Brown, R.L. Brown, Cato, Chalk, Clemmons, Clyburn, CobbHunter, Cole, Cooper, 12 Crawford, Daning, Delleney, Dillard, Duncan, Edge, Erickson, Forrester, Frye, Funderburk, Gambrell, 13 Gilliard, Govan, Gullick, Gunn, Haley, Hamilton, Hardwick, Harrison, Hart, Harvin, Hayes, Hearn, 14 Herbkersman, Hiott, Hodges, Horne, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Hutto, Jefferson, Jennings, Kelly, 15 Kennedy, King, Kirsh, Knight, Limehouse, Littlejohn, Loftis, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, McEachern, 16 McLeod, Merrill, Miller, Millwood, Mitchell, D.C. Moss, Nanney, J.H. Neal, J.M. Neal, Neilson, Ott, 17 Owens, Parker, Parks, Pinson, E.H. Pitts, M.A. Pitts, Rice, Rutherford, Sandifer, Scott, Sellers, Simrill, 18 Skelton, D.C. Smith, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, J.R. Smith, Sottile, Spires, Stavrinakis, 19 Stewart, Stringer, Thompson, Toole, Umphlett, Vick, Viers, Weeks, Whipper, White, Whitmire, 20 Williams, Willis, Wylie, A.D. Young and T.R. Young 21 Document Path: l:\council\bills\rm\1240zw09.docx 22 Companion/Similar bill(s): 779 23 24 Introduced in the House on April 29, 2009 25 Adopted by the House on April 29, 2009 26 27 Summary: Lieutenant Colonel Spann Watson 28 29 30 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 31 32 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 33 4/29/2009 House Introduced and adopted HJ11 34 35 36 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 37 38 4/29/2009 39 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A HOUSE RESOLUTION 10 11 TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR LIEUTENANT COLONEL 12 SPANN WATSON OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE 13 (RETIRED) FOR HIS MANY YEARS OF OUTSTANDING 14 MILITARY SERVICE. 15 16 Whereas, the members of the South Carolina House of 17 Representatives, on behalf of all South Carolinians, acknowledge 18 with deep appreciation the great sacrifice that the men and women 19 of the United States Armed Forces make for the ideals of freedom 20 and justice, which are so richly enjoyed in this nation; and 21 22 Whereas, Lieutenant Colonel Spann Watson of the United States 23 Air Force (Retired) stands high among those servicemen and 24 women so honored by their country; and 25 26 Whereas, a native of Johnston, Spann Watson moved with his 27 family to Lodi, New Jersey, in 1927. That same year, he had the 28 privilege of watching world hero Charles A. Lindbergh fly his 29 famous plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, into Teterboro Airport, an 30 event that inspired the young Watson to pursue a career in 31 aviation; and 32 33 Whereas, he was educated at Hackensack High School and 34 Howard University, where he studied mechanical engineering. In 35 1939, he began his aviation training in the original College Pilot 36 Training Program at Howard and continued under the same 37 program at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. In 1941, he joined the 38 United States Army Air Corps as a flying cadet, a pioneer, as part 39 of the Tuskegee airmen experience; he was an original member of 40 the famed 99th Fighter Squadron. During World War II, Spann 41 Watson was one of eight pilots who successfully fought the elite 42 German Luftwaffe over the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of

[3979] 2 1 Sicily. He also flew missions in Northern Africa, Italy, and 2 Southern Europe; and 3 4 Whereas, later in 1944 and 1945, Lieutenant Colonel Watson was 5 assigned to the newly created Combat Crew Training Center for 6 Tuskegee airmen, which was replacing pilots at Walterboro Army 7 Air Field in South Carolina; and 8 9 Whereas, continuing to serve his country after the close of World 10 War II, he played an important role in the development of an 11 integration plan for the United States Armed Forces. In recognition 12 of his contributions, his photograph, along with those of other 13 Tuskegee airmen, hangs in the National Air and Space Museum in 14 Washington, D.C.; and 15 16 Whereas, after twentythree years of military service, he retired 17 from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel and joined the Federal 18 Aviation Administration as an equalopportunity specialist. He 19 continued to build a record of achievement as a specialist in 20 airtraffic control; and 21 22 Whereas, Lieutenant Colonel Watson has received numerous 23 awards for his accomplishments, among them the Department of 24 Transportation’s Exceptional Service citation, granted for his work 25 toward the achievement of equal opportunity, and election as an 26 Elder Statesman of Aviation by the National Aeronautic 27 Association in 1990, as well as election to the board of directors of 28 the association in 1991. He was the first African American to 29 receive these latter two high honors; and 30 31 Whereas, Spann Watson has served as national president of the 32 Tuskegee Airmen Incorporated, which he helped organize. When 33 the Columbia chapter of the Tuskegee airmen was granted its 34 charter by the national organization in 2000, the new chapter was 35 named in his honor, and in 2006 Tuskegee University recognized 36 his exceptional achievements by awarding him an honorary 37 doctorate in public service. In 2007, as one of the original 38 Tuskegee airmen, he received a Congressional Gold Medal Award 39 from President George Bush; and 40 41 Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives counts it a 42 great privilege to honor Lieutenant Colonel Spann Watson 43 (Retired), one of the Palmetto State’s finest, and the members with

[3979] 3 1 one voice commend the dedicated, sacrificial labors of this worthy 2 son of South Carolina in the military of our great country. Now, 3 therefore, 4 5 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives: 6 7 That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, 8 by this resolution, recognize and honor Lieutenant Colonel Spann 9 Watson of the United States Air Force (Retired) for his many years 10 of outstanding military service. 11 12 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be provided to 13 Lieutenant Colonel Spann Watson (Retired). 14 XX 15

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