SC Resolution Would Honor Navy Veteran with Allendale Intersection Naming

A concurrent resolution moving through the South Carolina General Assembly seeks to permanently mark the intersection of U.S. Highways 278 and 301 in the Town of Allendale as the "Petty Officer 1st Class Johnnie Doctor Jr. Memorial Intersection," honoring a local son who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon.

Doctor, a Navy Petty Officer First Class, was killed in the attack at age 32. A Hampton County native, he was a 1986 graduate of Allendale-Fairfax High School in Allendale. He served as an information systems technician first class in the United States Navy and worked at the Pentagon at the time of his death. Over the course of his 14-year Navy career, he traveled from Japan to Jacksonville, Florida, to Russia and Australia.

House Resolution H.4919, introduced by Rep. Hosey, asks the South Carolina Department of Transportation to rename the Allendale intersection and "place appropriate signs or markers at this location containing these words." The resolution was first read on February 4, 2026, and the official legislative record shows it was printed for the Senate and recalled on March 17, 2026, with its status listed as introduced.

The resolution's whereas clause frames the naming in unambiguous terms: "the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001, will forever be seared into America's conscience. Thus, it is only fitting and proper that South Carolina native son and hero, Petty Officer 1st Class Johnnie Doctor Jr. who lost his life that day while serving his country, be forever honored with a highway intersection named in his memory."

The resolution also directs that a copy be forwarded to the Department of Transportation, which would be responsible for fabricating and installing the memorial markers at the US 278 and US 301 junction.

Doctor's military awards included the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, among others. A fellow officer who served alongside Doctor aboard the USS Stark remembered him as "a quiet consummate professional who was always loyal to his shipmates."

H.4919 is one of several similar naming resolutions active in the current legislative session. Companion measures before the General Assembly seek to name a stretch of SC Highway 391 in Saluda County after Fire Chief Chad Satcher and an Anderson County parkway after Richard A. Shirley, reflecting an ongoing legislative practice of honoring South Carolinians through permanent roadway memorials.

The bill carries the identifier SC-126-H-4919 under Session 126 of the South Carolina General Assembly. The Department of Transportation has not yet publicly confirmed receipt of the forwarded resolution or outlined a timeline for any signage work. Rep. Hosey's office had not responded to a request for comment by publication time. If enacted, drivers passing through the heart of Allendale on two of its most-traveled federal highways would encounter a permanent reminder of the town's most decorated casualty of September 11.