IL HJR0035

Designates the section of Illinois Route 251 from Bridge Street in Roscoe to Rockton Road in Roscoe as the Specialist Brandon Jacob Rowe Memorial Highway.

Requests the Illinois Tollway erect plaques or signs at suitable locations to identify the designated memorial highway, consistent with state and federal regulations.

Honors Specialist Brandon Jacob Rowe, who was killed in action on March 31, 2003, near Al Hillah, Iraq, while serving as a machine gun operator with the 101st Airborne Division.

Recognizes that Specialist Rowe was the first infantryman of the 101st Airborne to be killed in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom and the first from Northern Illinois to be killed in that war.

Notes Specialist Rowe's posthumous awards including the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, and Global War on Terrorism Medal, and his survival by family members in the Rockford area.