The legislative transportation committee discusses a handful of bills on Thursday.
One bill (AB-415) would designate a portion of U-S Highway 12 in the city of Whitewater as the Stephen Ambrose Memorial Highway.
“He dedicated his life to memorializing the citizen soldiers and band of brothers who fought for our freedom, particularly those in WWII.”
Whitewater Democrat Assemblyman Kim Hixson calls Ambrose the best known historian in the last 100 years, citing his numerous best-selling books, including Band of Brothers, and his presidential biographies. Ambrose also founded the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans.
“He brought us the stories of these men and helped us younger folks get to know more about our uncles, fathers, and grandfathers who were just normal everyday people who became soldiers.”
Ambrose grew up in Whitewater, and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1960.
“By naming this portion of Highway 12 after Stephen Ambrose we will be honoring, in my view, not only him but the men and the women that he helped to honor through his historical work.”
The famous historian died of lung cancer in 2002. Hixson says any cost in re-naming the highway would be covered by private donations and the city of Whitewater.