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1 BIL: 5152 2 TYP: Concurrent Resolution CR 3 INB: House 4 IND: 20000530 5 PSP: Perry 6 SPO: Perry 7 DDN: l:\council\bills\pt\2068dw00.doc 8 DPB: 20000531 9 SUB: William T. (Tommy) Gibbs III, Resolutions 10 11 12 13 HST: 14 15 Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved 16 ______17 House 20000531 Received from Senate 18 Senate 20000531 Introduced, adopted, returned 19 with concurrence 20 House 20000530 Introduced, adopted, sent to Senate 21 22 23 Versions of This Bill 24 25 26 27 28 TXT: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 10 11 TO EXPRESS THE DEEP GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION 12 OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE 13 STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TO WILLIAM T. (TOMMY) 14 GIBBS III OF AIKEN COUNTY ON THE OCCASION OF 15 BEING RECOGNIZED AND PRESENTED THE “YOUNG 16 AMERICAN MEDAL FOR BRAVERY” AWARD BY THE 17 UNITED STATES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IN 18 WASHINGTON, D.C. ON APRIL 27, 2000, FOR HIS HEROIC 19 RESCUE FIFTY-TWO YEARS AGO. 20 21 Whereas, in January of 1948, Tommy Gibbs, then age nine, risked 22 his life to save his five year old playmate, Pattie Luntz, from being 23 run down by a speeding train; and 24 25 Whereas, Tommy and Pattie were playing walk-the-rail when he 26 heard the engineer of the train sound his whistle for the highway 27 crossing just fifty yards from where they were playing -- he yelled 28 to Pattie to run back into the yard and thought she was behind him 29 -- when he looked around, he noticed she had frozen on the 30 railroad track. Seeing her and the oncoming train, Tommy had the 31 presence of mind and courage to dash back to the track and swoop 32 her out of danger just an instant before the train roared past; and 33 34 Whereas, Tommy did not realize until afterwards that his courage 35 and quick thinking saved the day and averted a near tragedy; and 36 37 Whereas, he remembers hearing the screech of metal wheels 38 against metal rails as the engineer tried to stop the skidding train, 39 but it was fifty to one hundred yards past where the trembling 40 children stood before it came to a standstill. The engineer told 41 Tommy he saw Pattie’s face -- the train was so close -- and he 42 knew he could not stop; and

1 [5152] 1 1 2 Whereas, the heroism displayed by Tommy Gibbs hit the national 3 media in 1948, he told reporters: “I’ve been driving the tractor for 4 my granddaddy for two years. Sometimes I plow and sometimes I 5 bring in the corn.” He also demonstrated knots he had learned to 6 tie in the Boys Scouts, talked baseball, and announced a plan that 7 never materialized to “go to Notre Dame and be a chemist”. He 8 steadfastly refused to let Patty Luntz kiss him for the 9 photographers. In the picture seen nationwide, he stood stiffly 10 beside the little girl whose life he had saved and was not too happy 11 about wearing a suit and tie; and 12 13 Whereas, one of the people who read about the Gibbs boy’s 14 bravery was Congressman Frank L. Chelf of Kentucky, who said 15 in a letter to his parents that a bill to create a medal for child 16 heroes “was motivated by the recent heroic deed of your son . . . .” 17 He added, in his own handwriting, “If my bill passes the House 18 and Senate, I hope Tommy is the first youngster chosen to receive 19 this medal; and 20 21 Whereas, after almost three years, the legislation was approved by 22 the Senate, the House, and the President and became Public Law 23 638; and 24 25 Whereas, Tommy Gibbs got his own letter from Congressman 26 Chelf in 1956 when he graduated from Aiken High School. “Due 27 to your heroic and selfless action in saving a life, you were 28 responsible for the enactment of the Young American Medal for 29 Bravery,” it said. But there was no medal for him in the envelope; 30 and 31 32 Whereas, years passed and for some reason Tommy Gibbs never 33 received the medal. After his friend and neighbor, Skipper Perry 34 was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives last 35 year, the two talked about the overdue recognition. Representative 36 Perry suggested Tommy gather the information on the incident and 37 he would contact the appropriate officials in Washington; and 38 39 Whereas, decades of patience and perseverance had finally paid off 40 -- Tommy Gibbs was notified by the United States Department of 41 Justice that he would receive the Young American Medal for 42 Bravery Award on April 27, 2000, in Washington; and 43

1 [5152] 2 1 Whereas, accompanied by his wife, Donna, and grandson, Lucas, 2 he flew to Washington to receive this special award. United States 3 District Attorney Janet Reno presented the “Young American 4 Medal For Bravery” Award to William T. Gibbs III -- bringing 5 closure to a chapter in the life of Tommy Gibbs, which should 6 serve as an inspiration to other young citizens of our country that 7 bravery is a virtue to be epitomized not only by our government, 8 but also by the people with whom we come in contact very day. 9 Now, therefore, 10 11 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate 12 concurring: 13 14 That the members of the General Assembly of the State of South 15 Carolina, by this resolution, express their deep gratitude and 16 appreciation to William T. (Tommy) Gibbs III of Aiken County on 17 the occasion of being recognized and presented the “Young 18 American Medal for Bravery” Award by the United States Justice 19 Department in Washington, D.C. on April 27, 2000, for his heroic 20 rescue fifty-two years ago. 21 22 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to 23 William T. (Tommy) Gibbs III. 24 ----XX----

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