At a ceremony yesterday at Yellow Creek State Park, four bridges were renamed in honor of Indiana County residents who died in the service of their country.
The former Buena Vista Bridge on Route 56 near United High School was renamed the Specialist Beverly S. Clark Memorial Bridge in honor of the former United student who died on February 25th, 1991 in a Scud missile attack on her barracks in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm.
The bridge that carries Route 422 over Yellow Creek in Cherryhill Township will now be known as the PFC Ralph E. Dias Memorial Bridge, after the Medal of Honor recipient from Shelocta who was killed in action on November 12th, 1969 in Quang Nam Province in Vietnam.
The Route 403 bridge over Dixon Run in Clymer will now be known as the PFC Martin J. Popson Memorial Bridge. Popson, who was from Penn Run, was a recipient of the nation’s second highest military honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, for his extraordinary heroism in the liberation of Manila, the Philippines, in World War Two.
The Route 553 bridge over Dutch Run in Pine Township is now the Private Chancy Franklin Davis Memorial Bridge, named after the Alverda native who was killed on November 20th, 1943 while serving with the Third Marine Division in the Solomon Islands.
The legislation to rename the four bridges was approved in 2019 but the ceremonies, which normally would have been held individually at each bridge site, were delayed due to the pandemic.
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